THE UNITY OF HISTORY. 



THE UNITY OF HISTORY; 



OR 

OUTLINES OF LECTURES 



ON 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY, 

CONSIDERED ON THE PRINCIPLES OF 

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND: 

I 

BY THE 

REV. J: ABRAHAM, M.A. 

if 



FELLOW OF king's COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND ONE OF THE ASSISTANT 
MASTERS AT ETON. 



ETON, 

PRINTED AND SOLD BY E. P. WILLIAMS ; AND TO BE HAD AT 
THE ETON WAREHOUSE, 5 BRIDGE STREET, 
BLACKFRIARS, LONDON. 



MDCCCXLVl. 



ETON ; 

PRINTED BY E. P. WILLIAMS. 



^4/ r 



PREFACE. 

The following outlines of Lectures (or Lessons, for they partake 
of the nature of both) were given to a Class, that had gone through 
a detailed course of Geography, with occasional portions of His- 
tory. They are not intended as a substitute for, but to encourage, 
further study, and to supply a sort of frame to set the picture in. 

When the Author was called upon to prepare this course, he 
looked in vain to the great Historians, French or English, for gui- 
dance in a just philosophical view of general History. Unhappily 
the subject has fallen mainly into the hands of Infidels, such as 
Voltaire, Gibbon, and Hume ; or of Ultra -Protestants, such as 
Robertson and Sismondi, the former of whom has been shown by 
Mr. Maitland, in his work on the Dark Ages, to have been very 
ill-informed as to the real condition of the Mediaeval Church. The 
Infidel writers naturally took no account of the influences of 
Christianity, nor the Latitudinarians, of the Church, as the Divinely 
instituted Teacher of Christianity. 

Doubtless all the above writers have very great merits as histo- 
rians, narrators, and philosophers ; but their anti- christian or hereti- 
cal opinions make their works more dangerous than useful ; and 
the fact is a startling one, that our youth draws its historical know- 
ledge mainly from such impure wells. 

Montesquieu^s work on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire is 
perhaps the most valuable modern work of the kind, prior to the 
19th Century. 



vi 

Bossuet can hardly be said to have answered the expectations 
formed of his talents and learning, in the attempt made to trace 
the Providential government of this world, in his Universal Hisv^ 
tory. 

Of the later writers in the present century, Dr. Miller, in his 
Philosophical History, has followed in the same track as Bossuet. 
One cannot help feeling that it is almost a presumptuous line to 
attempt, resting as the application does on no foundation but pri- 
vate opinion. 

Of Hallam it seems almost impertinence in the Author to ven- 
ture to speak, so admirable is his judgment on most historical 
questions : but it is the remark of many great and wise men, 
that he seems to have no conception whatever of the Church 
being a Divine Institution, and therefore that he is an unsafe guide 
in that most essential point. 

The Author felt, then, that in order to present to the student^s 
mind an idea of the Unity of History, the only clue he could find 
to the tangled maze was in the Divine Revelation of the Church^ 
"the Witness," and *'the Pillar and Ground of the Truth." He 
had seen this key applied to the locked treasuers of Ancient His- 
tory, in that most interesting little work of the Venerable Arch- 
deacon R. Wilberforce^s, called " The Five Empires and in some 
measure Schlegel, Guizot, and Ratisbonne had launched into the 
ocean of Mode^m History, with the same polar star for their guide. 

It will be seen therefore that one leading idea pervades all these 
Lectures, viz. that the Church of Christ is the Centre of Light, to- 
wards which all Antiquity was attracted, and from which all Mo- 
dern History radiates. History is considered as the record of the 
morally centripetal and centrifugal forces, the conflict between the 
Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, the Church of 
Christ and the world, — the former presenting the only real Unity, 
the latter either counterfeiting the Truth, or striving to introduce 
disunion. {See Lecture X.) 



vii 



The Author makes little or no claim to originality of any sort, 
ha\dng merely recast other men^s labours into his own mould. 



He has only in conclusion to acknowledge the kind and valuable 
suggestions he has received from the Rev. E. C. Hawtrey, D. D. 
Head Master^ and the Rev. H. Dupuis, Assistant Master of Eton ; 
from the Rev. W. Sewell, Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford ; and 
from Professors Latham and Creasy, of University College, London, 
and Fellows of King^s College, Cambridge, Mr. J. Arrowsmith 
most kindly and zealously supplied the Author with excellent out- 
line Maps for his purpose. 

Eton College, 
Jan. m, 1845. 



CORRIGENDA. 

p. 2, Ihie 30. For ' sixteen' read ' fifteen.' 
ih. lineol. For 'twenty' read 'thirty.' And see Broiivne's Ordo Saec. ^. 323, &c. on these 
numbers. 

p. 3, Ime 41. For ' 1 Sam. x. 6,' 7'ead ' 1 Sam. x. 5.' 

p. 11. Heading. For ' The Human Race of Asia,' read ' Ethnography of the Human Race.' 
p. 20, line 26. For •' 1 Kings, x. 22,' read ' 1 Kings, ix. 18.' 
p. 25, line 30. For ' Persia' read ' Persian.' 
p. 28, line 19. For ' paralell/' read ' parallel.' 

p. 37, line 9. Transfer the vrords ' Journey to Persia, and death' to the next date, B. C. 466. 
p. 37, line 24. For '/Enophytse' read ' /Enophyta.' 
p. 43, line 32. For ' speciman,' read ' specimen.' 
p. 48, line 41. For ' dead body,' read 'ashes.' 
p. 53, last line. For 377 read 277. 

p. 54, line 4. The Date of the ' Battles of Ticinus and Trebia' should be 218. 

ib. line 5. The Date of the ' Battle of Thrasymene' should be 217, and of * Cannae' 216. 
ib. line 6. The Date of the ' Battie of Zama, &c.' should be 202. 

ib. line 15. For ' Cimbri' read ' Teutones ;' and add ' and the Cimbriat Raudii Campi.' 
p. 55. The Date in the Heading should be ' From Julius, B. C. 48,' instead of ' Augustus, B. C. 31.' 
p. 57, line 29. For ' aimed,' read ' arrived.' 

p. 58, line 34. The reference to ' Arnold's Rome,' should be ' vol. iii. 384,' instead of 387.' 
p. 59, line 19. For ' desiderabilia,' read ' desiderabilior.' 

ib. line 38. For 'A. D. 70' read ' 72.' 
p. 68, line 5. For ' Gresley' 7'ead ' Greswell.' 
p. 70, line 19. For ' new' read ' full.' 
p. 79, line 6. For ' Shareholder' read ' Slaveholder.' 
p. 80, note. For ^i^dvia read (i^duLa. 
p. 84, line 32. For ' Sepulchre' read ' Sepulture.' 
p. 91, note. For ' opportunities' read ' oppressions.* 
p. 94, line 22. For ' Nuilly' read ' Neuilly.' 
p. Ill, Ind note. Omit ' sadly.' 
p. 113, line 37. For ' Geogehgan' read ' Geoghegan.' 
p. 124. line 28. For ' depose' read 'join with the state in deposing.' 
p. 126, line 20. For ' 1314' read ' 1346.' 

ib. line 32. For ' many thousands' read ' 72,000 [Lord Campbell's Lives of Chancellors, vol. 
ii. 209.]' 

p. 130, line 21, 22. Transpose the words ' Visigoths' and * Ostrogoths.' 

ib. line 36. For ' the preceding' read ' the Gauls.' 
p. 135, line 25. For ' Sporza' read ' Sforza.' 
p. 139, line 29. For ' Wallanstein' read ' VVallenstein.' 
p. 141, line 15. For ' Murat' read ' Marat.' 
p. 109, line 32. For the last word in this line read ' was highly.' 



ADDENDAe 



p. 11, last liiie. 'Professor Key, in tlie 2nd vol. and page 181 of the Philological Society Papers, 
says, that many hitherto unclassified Janguag-es, siicli as those of Lapland, Finland, and 
Tartary, have been lately shown to belong- to the Indo-European Family.' 

p. 12, line 5. After the loord ' Gothic' itisert 'Celtic' 

p. 16, note. The Mexican system of Hieroglyphic and Picture-writing was exactly similar to the 

Egyptian. See Prescott's Conquest of Mexico, vol. I. bk. I. 
p. 26, line 30. The Mexican courier-system was exactly like the Persian 'dyyapoi, and Greek ■^^t- 
podpofx-oL 

p. 31 & 32. For a parallel to the history of the Pelasgi, and the Cyclopian buildings, compare 
Michelefs Rome, vol. I. with Prescotfs account of the Toltecs, the earliest inhabi- 
tants of Mexico. 

p. 44. The early wanderings and after history of the Aztec dynasty, before the building of Mexico, 

is a striking parallel to parts of Roman History, as Prescott observes. 
p. 50, note. *And Charlemagne's over Mount Cenis.' 

p. 58, line 5. After the w^ords ' after three campaigns,' insert ' against the Gauls, whom he had at 
first helped.' 

p. 77, line 45. After ' so that one man,' insert 'for the two first Coimcils, and tioo for the next.' 
p. 79, last line. After ' Africa,' insert ' Arabia, Persia, Syria, and Egypt.' 

p. 113. Insert after the last Paragraph but one Sp. Mant says, that there were two Proctors 
present in Parliament in 1536, and that the Law Judges [on whose character, by the 
way, generally, see Lord CamphelVs Lives of Chancellors, vol. II. p. 530, and vol. 111. 
122,] considered that equivalent to an English Convocation. But Dr. Hook's Church 
i)ic#wn«rv, under the word 'Convocation,' shows that the English Convocation was 
distinct from the Lay Parliament, and so it came to be a substitute for Ecclesiastical 
Synods ; whereas we know that the Irish Church had its Ecclesiastical Synods (e. g. 
1551,) besides t\ie Parliament of Lay and Spiritual Proctors for state purposes. It is 
very true, therefore, that the Law-Judges were right so far, that the Irish Parliament 
of 1536 was equivalent to the English Convocation, in so far as they both took cogni- 
zance of State alTairs ; but the English Convocation also took cognizance of Spiritual 
matters, which the Irish Church had their distinct and more primitive Ecclesiastical 
Synods for." 

p. 119, line 14. After ' peers,' insert ' or by the law of the land.' [See Lord Campbell's Lives of 

Chancellors, vol. III. 357.] 
p. 123, li7ie 23. For a parallel case, and remarks on this point, see Niebuhr's Lectures, vol. I. 358. 
p. 124, line 42. Nonjurors were right in refusing homage to K. William, but wrong in separating 

from the Church on this account. 
lb. For the State-services in the Prayer-book, Mwauthoriaed by the Church, see Mr. Perceval's 

Work on the Subject, 
p. 144, last line but one. After ' of Union,' insert ' among the Chiefs.' 

p. 165, Rich. III. Before ' Richard', insert 'It is falsely said that;' and after 'Nephews,' insert 
' as Lord Campbell, vol. I. 401 , allows that Horace Walpole has shown, that Edw ard was 
actually present at his Uncle's coronation.' 



NOTICE. 

The Xth and Jive following Lectures are not inserted in the School 
Edition. 



b 



WORKS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE LECTURES. 



S. Augnstine, de Civit. Dei. 

Malte-brun's Geography. 

Heeren's Asiatic and African Researches. 

Prichard's Natural History of Mankind, 4 vols. 

Browne's Ordo Saeculorum. 

Collier's Ecclesiastical History of Britain. 



Lect. I.— Gale's Court of the Gentiles— Wilberforce's Five Empires. 
Lect. III.— Sir G. Wilkinson's Egypt. 

Lect. VI. Wordsworth's Athens and Attica— Thirlwall's Greece. 

Lect. VII.— Niebuhr's Rome— Arnold's Rome — Michelet's Rome— Mrs. Hamilton Gray's Etru- 
ria— Donaldson's Varronianus. 

Lect. VIII.— Niebuhr's Lectures— Montesquieu, Grandeur et Decadense des Remains. 

Lect. IX.— Fleury's Ecclesiastical History. 

Lect. X.— Ratisbonne's Vie de St. Bernard— Guizot's Lectures on European Civilization— 
Ducange. 

Lect. XL— Bowden's Life of Gregory Vllth—Schlegel's Philosophy of History— Hallam's Middle 
Ages. 

Lect. XIL— Michaud sur les Croisades— Mill's History of Chivalry, and of the Crusades. 
Lect. XIII.— Poole's History of England— Churton's Early English Church. 
Lect. XIV.— Massingberd's History of the Reformation. 

Lect. XV. — Hallam's Constitutional History— Montesquieu's ' Esprit des Lois'— Guizot's Es- 
says on the History of France and England— Blackstone. 

Lect. XVII.— Michelet, Hist, de la France. 



TAELE OF CONTENTS. 



PREFACE.— Character of Modern Historians. 
INTRODUCTION.— On some of the Uses of History. 



LECT. I. 

Jewish History. . Three great Chronological Divisions of History. . Call of Abraham 
..Charter of the Church. . Israel in Egypt. . Tj^pical character of Jewish History. . 
Moses. . Joshua. . Prophets. . Collegiate ' Institutions of Samuel. . Kings. . Assyrian 
Captivity. . Babylonish Captivity. . Daniel. . Cyrus. . Alexander the Great. . the Septua- 
gint. . Antiochus Epiphanes. . Judas Maccabseus. . Pompey. . Roman Empire. . Univer- 
sal Peace. . The Birth of Christ. Geographical account of the Journeyings oi the 
Israelites from Egypt to the Land of Promise. pp. 1 — 8. 



LECT. II. 

Asia. . Progress of Geographical Knowledge. . Description of the Continent of Asia 
..Political History of Asia. . The Human Race. . Ethnography. . Groupes of Lan- 
guages. . Instance of the Poly synthetic form. . Instances of grammatical affinity in the 
Indo-European Languages. pp. 9 — 13. 



LECT. III. 

Africa. . Geography. . Hydrography. . Ethnography. . Philology. . History of Egypt 
. . Three forms of writing. . Rosetta Stone. . Joseph. . Rameses. . Sesostris. . Prophecy 
and fulfilment. pp. 13— 17, 



LECT. IV. 

First (or Assyrian) Empire. . Geographical description of Media. . Assyria. . Syria 
. . Judaea. . Arabia. . Sketch of ^lius Gallus' Invasion of Arabia. . Ethnography. . Com- 
merce. . Tigris and Euphrates. . Ruins of Babylon. . History, . Ninus. . Jonah. . Sarda- 
napalus. . Sennacherib. . Hezekiah. . Salmaneser. . Nestorian Christians of Kurdistan. . 
Chaldaeans. . Zedekiah. . Babylonish Captivity. . Herodotus. . Taking of Babylon. 

pp. 18—22. 



LECT. V. 

Second (or Persian) Empire. . Geography of Iran and Asia Minor. . Topography of 
Persepolis. . Inscriptions on Ruins. . Arrow-headed form of writing. . Ruins of Susa. . 
Languages of Ancient and Modern Persia. . Religion. . Zenda- Vesta. . Zoroaster. . 
Achaemenidae. . Constitution and History. . March of Cyrus the Younger. . Retreat of 
the Ten Thousand Greeks. pp. 23—29. 

b 2 



xii 



LECT. VI. 

Third (or Grecian) Empire. . Geography of Greece. . Political History. . Topography 
. . Ethnography. . Pelasgi. . Hellenes. . Languages. . Constitutional History of Athens 
and Sparta. . Illustration of Dr. Arnold's Appendix to Thucydides. . Judicial changes 
. . The Statesman's office at Athens, illustrated by English History. . The Spartan 
Ephors, and Frank Maires du Palais. . The Achaean League compared with modern 
Feudal Unions in Switzerland and Holland. . History. . Trojan war. . Sicilian Expedi- 
tion. . Prophecy and Fulfilment. . Chronological Table of the leading events. . Alex- 
ander's Ten Campaigns. . Account of his Death. pp. 30 — 40. 

LECT. VII. 

Fourth (or Roman) Empire, . Geography of Italy, and Sicily. , Topography of 
Rome. . Ethnography of Italy. . Languages. . Etruscan History. . Constitutional History 
of Rome. . Remarks upon the Punic Wars. . Hannibal's Character, and Marches from 
Saguntum to Cannse. . Causes of his victories and failures. , Characters of the Gracchi 
..Agrarian Laws. . Epicurean School of Caesar's Time. . Parallel of the French 
Revolution, and Napoleon. . Chronological Table of some leading events. . Probable 
results of a war between Rome and Alexander the Great. pp. 41 — 54. 



LECT. VIII. 

Roman Empire (Part 2.) .. Geographical Boundaries in Augustus' Time.. Ethno- 
graphy of Cisalpine Gaul. . Three hordes of Barbarian Conquerors. . Character of 
Roman State and Individuals. . Montesquieu's Theory. . History of the Empire. . Four 
Periods. . Csesar's Gallic Wars. . His Policy illustrated by English History. . Augustus 
compared with Charlemagne. . Some of the succeeding Emperors. . Barbarian Inva- 
sions. . Slavery. . Downfall of the Empire. . Pliny's Theory. . Guizot's sketch of the 
Municipal Regime of Rome compared with France in Louis XVth's Reign. 

pp. 55—63. 

LECT. IX. 

Fifth (or Christian) Empire. . St. Paul's Journeys. . Melite, not Malta, . History 
..Prophecy. . First Century. . Second Century. . Third Century. . Conversion of Con- 
stantine. pp. 64 — 72. 

LECT. X. 

Modern History, from the fall of the Western Empire to Charlemagne. . The work 
of Christ's Church. . Odoacer's Kingdom. . Theodoric's Kingdom of the Goths. . Beli- 
sarius. . Totila. . History of the Visigoths. . Narses. . Lombards. . Feudal system. . Pepin 
le Bref. . History of the Franks. . Clovis. . Sluggard Kings. . Mayors of the Palace. . 
Charles M artel. . Battle of Tours — Five most important battles of History. . Carlo - 
vingian Dynasty established. . Guizot's Sketch of the Two first Prankish Dynasties 
..The operations of the Church upon the Barbarians, . Persecutions of the 
Church, . Heresies. . Monastic Institutions. . Pope Gregory the Great, . Benedictine 
Order. .Teutonic characteristic. . The leaven of the Church, , Sketch of Charlemagne's 
Empire. . Geographical Descriptions of the Roman Empire, A. D. 400. . of the Gothic 
Empire, A. D. 400. . of Charlemagne's Empire, A. D. 800. pp. 73—79. 

LECT. XI. 

Rise of the Papal Monarchy. . The Theory of the Primitive Church.. The originat- 
ing causes of the Papal Supremacy. . The Feudal system. . Chivalry. . Slavery. . Charle- 



xiii 



magne's depression of the Episcopate. . The Apostles. , St. Peter primus inter pares, 
uotsxtpremus. . Rome the Mother of many Churches. . One great object of History. . 
Decretals of St. Isidore. . Illustration from Jewish History. . The Truce of God. . Ro- 
man Pontiffs in the Xth Century. . Emperors of the German Empire. . War of the In- 
vestitures. . Hildebrand, or Pope Gregory VI Ith. . Henry IVth, Early Life. . Hilde- 
brand's Character. . Conclusion of the War by the Concordat of Worms. Theory of 
the Church in England on this subject. . Conge d' EUre. . Plato's Republic tested by 
application to the Christian Kingdom, and the Papal Monarchy. . Geographical De- 
scription to illustrate Modern History in the 11th century. . Appendix on Feudalism. 

pp. 80—89. 

LECT. XII. 

The Cross and the Crescent. . The History of Mohammedanism. . Three eras of 
the successors of Mahomet. . at Medina. . at Damascus. . at Bagdad. , The Spanish Ca- 
liphate. . The Fatimite Caliphate in Egypt. . The Four Turkish Dynasties. . The Otto- 
man Turks. . The Saracens. . Bp. Newton on the Apocalypse The principles and con- 
sequences of the Crusades. . The beau ideal of Chivahy. . Tragedy of the Knights 
Templar. . Geography, to illustrate the History of the Times. pp. 90—96. 



LECT. XIII. 

The Early History of England. . The distinction of Races, Celtic and Saxon. . Cae- 
sar's account of their ^dos. . Teutonic character of English Literature. . Caesar's In- 
vasions. . Druids. . Caractacus. . Boadicea. . Galgacus. . Agricola. . The Empress Hele- 
na, mother of Constantine the Great. . Brittany. . Romans abandon Britain. . Effect 
upon English Language. . Picts. . Saxon Pirates. . Asers. . Vortigern, . Stonehenge. . 
King Arthur.. The Church's work in Britain .. First Epoch. . Second Epoch. . St. 
Alban..St. Germain. . St. Patrick.. St. Columba..St. Gregory the Great.. St. Au- 
gustin. The Anglican Bishopric at Jerusalem. . The Conversion of Barbarians. . Ro- 
man Claim of Patriarchal Power over England examined. . Political History of the 
Anglo-Saxons. . Heptarchy. . Wittenagemote K. Alfred. . Burke. , Hume. . St. Dun- 
stan. . Danish Invasions and Dynasty. . Edward the Confessor. . Age of Good Sover- 
eigns. . Divine Economy in the gifts of the Church. . William the Conqueror. . The 
Normans. pp. 97 — 105. 



LECT. XIV. 

The Reformation. . The Church's work. . her corruption. . the Church of Rome. . Lu- 
ther's testimony. . The victories of the Church of Rome. . The Antichrist in Rome and 
England.. The characters of some leading Reformers. . Comparison between the Re- 
formation in England and on the Continent. . The corruptions that led to the Refor- 
mation., The licentious court of Rome.. The Monastic Houses. . Cairn's Castles.. 
Robertson. . D'Aubigne. . Maitland. . Excommunications. . Attempts made at legiti- 
mate Reformation. . Jus Cyprium, and the Theory of Development. . The Founders of 
Colleges. . Wycliffe. . Council of Constance. . Pragmatic Sanction. . Huss and Jerome 
..The punishment of Heresy. .Lord Cobham. . Reformation in Germany. . Luther 
at VVittenberg. . Council of Trent . . Treaty of Westphalia . Plato's 4th Stage. . The 
Unity of the Church. . English Reformation. . Papal Jurisdiction. . Romanists' conduct 
after the Synod of 1534.. Henry Vlllth's character. . Thomas Cromwell's character 
..The suppression of Monasteries. . The Principle ci pres. . Hemy VIII's Six Ar- 
ticles. . His Death. . Edward VI's character. , Mary's accession. . Deaths of Latimer, 
Ridley, and Cranmer. . Elizabeth's accession. . The XXXIX Articles. . The Reforma- 
tion in Ireland, .in Scotland .. The Massacre on St. Bartholomew's Eve, and of the 
Irish Protestants. . The Gunpowder Plot. . The later work of the Reformation. . The 
Teutonic and Celtic races. . Geography to illustrate the year A. D. 1500. , Appendix 
on K. Henry Vlth's character and work, compared with his warlike predecessors. 

pp. 106—115, 



xiv 



LECT. XV. 

English Constitution, and Stuart Dynasty. . Forms of Government. . Character i 
Churchmen in all ages. . K. Alfred. . The effects of the Norman Conquest. . The Feudai 
System. . Trial by Jury. . Magna Charta. . Estates of the Realm. . Importance of Ge- 
nealogies. , The Tudor Dynasty. . The Star-Chamber. . Charles Ist's Principles. . The 
Petition of Rights. . Habeas Corpus Act. . James Ilnd's conduct.. Coronation Oaths. . 
The History of James 1st. . His character. . Gunpowder Plot. . . . Lord Bacon. , Charles 
Ist's method of Taxing. . Hampden. . Church in Scotland. . Long Parliament. . Abp. 
Laud. . Strafford. . Militia Bill. . Civil War. . Battle of Edgehill. . of Marston Moor. . of 
Naseby. . Subsequent History of Charles, and Execution. . Charles Ilnd at Worcester 
, . Cromwell. . Restoration of the Monarchy. . Triple Alliance. . The Cabal. . Gates' 
Plot. . Municipal Corporations, . The Rye-house Plot.. James Ilnd's accession. . Re- 
bellions in Scotland and England. . Battle of Sedgemoor. . Jeffrey's Campaign. . Pas- 
sive Resistance of the Church. . Magdalene College. . The seven Bishops.. The con- 
spiracy against James. . His Flight and Deposition. . William of Orange. . The An- 
glican and Papal Theories of Ecclesiastical Supremacy compared. . The Nonjurors.. 
Character of James. , Inscription on his Monument. fp. 116 — 124. 



LECT. XVI. 



Parallel of English, French, and Russian History.. Rurik, Alfred, Charlemagne.. 
Apanages in Russia. . Norman Conquest. . Sluggard Kings. . Genghis Khan. . Battle of 
Cressy. , York and Lancaster Wars. . John IlIrd, Louis Xlth, Henry Vllth. . Peter 
the Great, Louis XIV, Marlborough.. Alexander, Napoleon, Wellington .. Montes- 
quieu's observations. p-p. 125 — 128. 



LECT. XVII. 

History of France. . Geography and Geology of France. . History of the Franks. . 
Salian Franks. . Charlemagne. . Capetian Dynasty, . Branch of Valois. . Branch of 
Bourbon. . Parallelism of English and French Revolutions. . Fraternal Triplicities of 
the French Monarchy. . Early History of the Church in France. pp. 129—143. 



LECT. XVIII— XX. 

History of England from the Norman Conquest. . Contrast of Ancient and Modern 
History. . Contrast of French and English History. . Short Sketches of the Reigns, 
from William the Conqueror to Queen Elizabeth. . Conclusion. pp. 144—177. 



INTRODUCTION. 



These introductory Remarks on the uses of History are extracted 
from Dr. Moberly's instructive volume of " Sermons preached at 
Winchester College." The tone and spirit with which we ought to 
set about this study seemed to be so well expressed in his XXth 
Sermon, that I have ventured to turn some passages to my own 
purposes : — 

*^ No doubt (he says) there are other reasons why History is 
useful. In it, we read, to a certain extent, the downfalls of sin, and 
the triumphs of goodness, even though the lesson is strangely in- 
distinct, and often seems to give almost the opposite instruction 
from that which we expect. No doubt, too, we may obtain from 
History examples more or less applicable to our own times and 
circumstances, from which we may learn the probable effects of 
various lines of conduct in affecting the interests of states : 
but here too the lessons are but imperfect, and the inferences 
easily to be evaded, or altered, by slightly heightening or de- 
pressing the prominence of this or that particular in each story. 
However, be it granted that in many ways like these History does 
directly contribute to great and useful purposes ; still these bene- 
fits will not account for its great and universal hold on mankind. 
Surely the true and real principle of our interest in the past lies 
in this, — ^that we, and all those who have lived before on the earth, 
are one great Family ; separated indeed in point of time, and often 
in place and country, but still all related together by many ties : 
and above all, that though some are departed from the earth, yet 
all are alive ; — we indeed alone in the flesh, but they too in their 
respective places truly, really, and immortally alive. It is this in- 
ward sense, this instructive consciousness, which makes men, who 
lived and were tried and tempted like ourselves, our brethren. 



xvi 



Thus we are, and feel that we are, much bound to the dead. Even 
the heathen dead shared with us so many of those things which 
are most important to us ; — bodies and souls like ours, desires and 
dangers, a natural law of virtue and self-government, and many- 
offences against it, — and above all, a real immortality, leading to a 
real judgment, — that they are truly our brethren, truly and ten- 
derly allied to us. Still more closely bound to us, and by more 
sacred and mysterious ties, are the Christian dead, — the whole num- 
ber of those, who, being members with us of the Body of Christ, 
have gone through their trials upon earth, and are now waiting, 
soon to be joined by ourselves, for their last and endless doom. 
And of these, our own countrymen are the nearest to us of all ; 
nearest, from the actual bond of blood and country that is between 
us ; nearest, from their sharing in that national oneness which all 
men acknowledge, and which God hath ever recognized in His 
dealings with Nations.^^ 

The reader is also strongly recommended to the Christian Re- 
membrancer, No. 48. vol. IX. Article on the ordinary Teaching, 
where the Idea of History is much the same as is sketched out in 
these pages. I only remark, that these were published before the 
Article in question, in order to show that my view is not a mere 
individual fancy, but such as has approved itself to other minds 
independently. 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



LECTURE I. 



JEWISH HISTORY. 



Perhaps we may consider the whole History of Nations as a develope- 
ment, on a large scale, of human nature. This seems to have been done 
in th7'ee grand Phases, or divisions, of about equal duration each :— • 

1. The World before the Flood. 

2. The Mrsi from the Flood to the Birth of Christ. 

3. The Christian ^ra. 

These three periods seem to have differed in the degree or nature of 
that Revelation and positive Institution of a Church, vouchsafed to them 
by God. 

Thus, in the first, we have but few traces of a Revelation permanently 
secured from decay by any external Institution. (See Genesis, Chap. IV. 
and Chap. VI. 1—6.; 

In the second period we have a nation constituted a Church, and placed 
in a central position, round which all the other great political communi- 
ties of the world revolved, as in their orbits, and at particular periods of 
their history, for the most part in their acm^, or just before their fall, 
were brought into contact with it. Thus the light of Revelation flashed 
upon the heathen world from the Temple of Jerusalem, as if to tri/ 
whether they would receive it or no : and at no time did the Providence 
of God leave them altogether "without a witness" of Himself. (See 
Gales Court of the Gentiles, and Keble^s Pi^celectiones, pp. 803 — 8.) 

In the third period — "the dispensation of the fulness of times" — God has 

"gathered together in one all things in Christ" " and hath put all things 

under His feet, and gave Him to be Head over all things to the Church 
which is His Body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all." — Coloss. I. 

We are now to consider the second period. About the time when the 
first worldly empire came to its strength under Semiramis, it pleased God 
to make gradual and silent preparation in another manner for that king- 
dom, in which the nations of this world were finally to be united. This 
was done by the Call of Abraham. He was the chief of one of the eldest 
tribes of Shem's children ; and though even among them the worship 
of idols had begun to appear, (Josh. XXIV. 2.) yet the God of Noah 
was remembered in this family, (Gen. XXXI. 53. J which had remained at 

B 



2 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



Ur in Chaldea, near man's first dwelling-place, and which probably had 
long been influenced by the neighbourhood of Noah himself. From this 
country, now become the seat of the Babylonian empire, Abraham was 
called to depart, B. C. 1921. The Lord had said unto him, " Get thee 
out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, 
unto a land that I will shew thee : and I will make of thee a great nation, 
and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a bless- 
ing ; and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth 
thee : and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Gen. 
XII. 1—3. 

This promise is the great charter of the Church. When Adam lost 
Paradise, God had promised him, that of the woman's seed should come a 
Deliverer for the human race. (Gen. III. 15.) And now the hope was 
to gain shape and substance, by being embodied in those lasting institu- 
tions, which have their completion in the Church. 

When Jacob's family first settled in Egypt, it was in number but seventy 
persons ; but after remaining two hundred and sixteen years in the coun- 
try, it was increased into a vast multitude. ( Gen. XLVI. J At that time 
there rose up a king of a new family, who was ignorant of the services 
which had been rendered to Egypt by Joseph. This new Pharaoh — so 
the kings of Egypt were called, from a word which signifies the sun, 
( Wilkinson^ s Ancient Egypt, ch. W.) — was guilty of those great cruelties 
towards Israel, which God punished by the infliction of ten plagues. (B.C. 
1491.) At first he subjected them to excessive labour in preparing bricks 
for his treasure cities and other public buildings ; and more ancient bricks 
have been found to bear his mark, than that of any other king of Egypt. 
(Ibid. ch. II. 99.^ But as this did not check their increase, he put their 
children to death, until God was pleased by a stretched out arm to bring 
them up out of the house of bondage. 

The Israelites had dwelt two hundred and sixteen years in Egypt, and 
four hundred and twenty years had passed since Abraham had received the 
promise of the land of Canaan, when God called them to its possession. 
(B.C. 1491.) 

As God delivered His people by miracle from Egypt, so, by like miracle, 
did He preserve them in the wilderness. Forty years they remained there : 
they received new laws, they formed new habits, till they were ready to 
come forth as a separate people into the country they were to possess. 
" These things happened unto them for ensamples ; and they are written 
for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." (\ Cor. 
X. 11. J In His dealings with Israel, it pleased God to give a sign of His 
dispensations with the Church at large. Israel was led through the waters 
of the Red Sea ; so has God appointed that through the waters of baptism 
men pass into His Church. (\ Cor. X. 2.) As by this ordinance men 
are admitted into " the number of God's faithful and elect children," 
(Baptismal Service,) so was the nation of Israel elected" to be a " special 
people." (Deut. VII. 6. J Thus was their general predestination a sign of 
the election of individuals in later days to Christian privileges. So, again, 
the manna with which they were fed in the wilderness was a type of that 
heavenly food with which, in His Holy Communion, our Lord refreshes His 



LECTURE I. JEWISH HISTORY. 3 

faithful servants. (John Yl. 51.) The wilderness^ in which they walked 
so long, resembled the world we inhabit ; and the heavenly state was sig- 
nified by the Canaan of rest which lay beyond. (Heb. IV. 8. J 

When the Israehtes had been forty years in the wilderness, they ad- 
vanced under Joshua, the successor of Moses, against the nations of 
Canaan. (B C. 1451.) These people, the most corrupt of the children 
of Noah, had, in consequence, been sentenced by God to total destruction. 
(Gen. IX. 25 In Abraham's time their iniquity was not yet full," 
(Deut. IX. 4 ; Gen. XV. 16 ; Gen. XVIII. 20.) though Sodom and Go- 
morrah were, even in that day, visited by a supernatural ruin. But now 
the time of their punishment was come, and the Israelites were ordered to 
inflict it. As the executioners of God's sentence, Israel was required to 
destroy those nations from under heaven. This was, in a measure, effected 
during the time of Joshua. The land was di\dded among the twelve 
tribes ; and during the space of three hundred and fifty years they lived 
in it without temporal king, without settled government, distinct from all 
other people ; at times oppressed by their neighbours, as a punishment 
for their neglect of God's law, and then again restored by one or another 
deliverer, upon their repentance. Meanwhile the public worship of their 
nation was at Shiloh, in the land of Ephraim, where the ark and the 
tabernacle of the congregation had been placed by Joshua. 

During the long interval in which the Judges ruled, there seems to have 
been no progress towards those great events, which formed the design of 
Israel's history. Yet it was obvious that the purpose of the law had not 
yet been attained ; and all might understand that one part at least of 
Abraham's promise, which extended to all nations of the earth, had not 
been accomplished. At the end of this time begins a new period in the 
history of Israel, — a succession of prophets, who uttered fresh predictions, 
and of princes, who gave fresh examples, of Messiah's kingdom. This 
period (B. C. 1176,) was introduced by Samuel the prophet. His commis- 
sion was shown by predictions, of which the fulfilment was so manifest 
and immediate, that '*all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that 
Samuel was estabhshed to be a prophet of the Lord." fl Sam. III. 20.) 

But not only did Samuel exercise the ordinary offices of the priest- 
hood, — he laid the foundation of institutions, by w^hich the condition of 
Israel was greatly amended. He found the people, as the last chapters of 
the book of Judges teach us, in its domestic habits and its daily life, little 
raised above the surrounding heathen. How was this to be remedied ? 
Some permanent means of instruction was needed. For this purpose he 
established the- colleges of the sons of the prophets. He began with two 
places — one, the hill of God near Bethel; (I Sam. X. 6.) the other, Naioth 
in Ramah, near his own residence, (\ Sam. XIX. 20.J and there collected 
a band of youths, whom he trained for God's service. The object of these 
institutions was not merely the instruction of the young. In them, as in 
the cathedrals of oiu* own land, the solemn service of God was continually 
maintained ; music and singing were employed, to impress the minds of a 
thoughtless generation ; and thus two places at least in the land displayed 
in its perfection that devotional character, which belonged especially to 
the situation of God's chosen people. 

B 2 



4 ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 

Such colleges of the prophets lasted and increased during the days of 
the monarchy. To this institution likewise Samuel, though unwillingly, 
led the way ; and at the desire of the people, not contented by the Al- 
mighty's immediate government, he was instructed to appoint a king. 
He first anointed Saul, and then David, to the Royal office. And in 
David, who was wonderfully brought without his own seeking to the king- 
dom, and still more in Solomon, his son, the course of God's Providence 
was further discovered. (B.C. 1015.) For not only did the greatness, 
strength, and splendour of Solomon reahze that promise of worldly power 
which was made to Abraham, but it afforded a figure of that spiritual 
kingdom, which the future seed of David was to establish. Solomon was 
endowed by God with a wisdom which was far more valuable than any 
earthly greatness. He was wiser than all men ; than Ethan the Ezrahite, 
and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol : and his fame was 
in all nations round about." (I Kings, IV. 31. J Solomon's wisdom is 
remembered, because it is preserved in the record of God's Holy Scripture ; 
but how short-hved is human fame, seeing that men, in their day the 
wisest in the east, but for this verse would be altogether forgotten ! 

As it is the privilege of the Christian Church, that our Lord is more es- 
pecially present in its appointed congregations, so was it the glory of 
Israel, that in its place of national worship God appeared. But in the 
time of Samuel the ark had been removed from Shiloh ; and after being 
restored by the Philistines, who had taken it captive, it had been kept in 
various places, till David brought it to Mount Sion. There Solomon finally 
placed it, in the most holy place of his temple, which became from that 
time the centre of Israel's worship. 

In Solomon one part of the promise to Abraham seems for a time to 
be satisfied ; yet is his glory diminished before his death, as though to 
prove that the kingdom of Israel is not yet completely manifested. David 
has the assurance of eternal dominion ; yet the kingdom of peace is not 
to be looked for in his days. Moses, the lawgiver, may not enter the land 
of promise. Only in the Son of God do these separate characters find 
their complete perfection. For the likeness of the promised Mediator is 
conspicuous throughout the sacred volume, as in a picture, moving along 
the line of the history in one or other of His destined offices ; the dis- 
penser of blessings in Joseph — the inspired interpreter of truth in Moses 
— the conqueror in Joshua — the active preacher in Samuel — the suffering 
combatant in David — and in Solomon the triumphant king. 

On the death of Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was divided. That 
such should be the case had been predicted by God, as a punishment for 
Solomon's sin ; (2 Sam. VII. 14 — 16.J it was brought about by the folly 
of Rehoboam, Solomon's son, and by the turbulence of the people. Two 
tribes only, Judah and Benjamin, remained subject to Rehoboam ; the 
other ten made Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, their king. 

After Jeroboam and his son, various kings ruled over the ten tribes; 
but they continued to worship those calves, which had been designed to 
draw men from God's temple at Jerusalem. At length, about fifty years 
after Jeroboam's time, Ahab introduced the worship of Baal from the 
neighbouring city of Sidon. 



LECTURE I. JEWISH HISTORY. 



5 



By Elijah, and Elisha, who came after him, the schools of the sons of 
the prophets were set up or strengthened, which served to maintain some 
measure of piety in the land. Yet all things went back, as might have 
been expected, when the promise of Abraham was despised ; so that at 
length the nation of Israel was carried captive into the land of Assyria, 
never to be reinstated. 

Meanwhile the kingdom of Judah was prosperous when it served God, 
and afflicted when it forsook Him. But the public actions of the nation 
depended much upon its prince ; and though some of the Kings of 
Judah, as Ahaziah and Ahaz, were wicked, some were good, as Asa, 
Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah. This last was on the throne of Judah when 
the ten tribes were finally cast off, and carried captive into Assyria. 
And then it was that God declared, by His prophet Hosea, that His elec- 
tion, which had fallen on Isaac, one of the sons of Abraham, and on 
Jacob, instead of his brother Esau, should move henceforth in the line 
of the Jewish nation. " Ephraim compasseth Me about with Hes, and the 
house of Israel with deceit ; but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful 
with the saints.'^ (Hosea, XI. \2.) 

After the death of Sardanapalus, the Assyrian empire was divided for a 
time into two parts, one of which had Babylon for its capital, and the 
other Nineveh. By this last, which had the easier communication with 
Canaan, the ten tribes were carried into captivity. Ten years later, (B. C. 
721,) Sennacherib, who had succeeded Shalmanezer, came up against 
Judah. At this time the kingdom of Babylon was little dreaded, for the 
wide desert seemed to be an effectual barrier between it and Jerusalem. 
And therefore, when its king sent messengers to congratulate Hezekiah 
on his recovery from sickness, he told the prophet Isaiah that they came 
*'from a far country, even from Babylon." (Isaiah, XXXIX. 3.) But this 
distant and friendly kingdom was declared by God to be appointed for the 
final punishment of the Jewish people, while from their more threatening 
enemies of Nineveh they were miraculously delivered. When Sennacherib 
was already encamped against Jerusalem, the angel of the Lord went 
forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore 
and five thousand." (Isaiah, XXXVII. 36.J The promise of present pre- 
servation, and the assurance that the nation most dreaded was not 
appointed to injure them, gave peace and tranquillity during the remnant 
of Hezekiah' s days ; and at this time (B.C. 710,) God bestowed upon 
His people a still further blessing, in those predictions of the final glories 
of Christ's kingdom, which form the last half of Isaiah's prophecy. 

It was not until four generations after Hezekiah, that Isaiah's predic- 
tions concerning Babylon were accomphshed. Manasseh, Hezekiah' s son, 
had especially provoked God's wrath against His people, by filHng Jerusa- 
lem with the innocent blood of His servants. (2 Kings, XXIV. 4.) No 
national sin so much excited God's anger, as this persecution of His Church. 
In it Isaiah is supposed to have perished, — sawn asunder by Manasseh's 
order. {Heh. XI. 37.) This was the age of the chief prophets. Jeremiah's 
predictions were uttered in the time of Josiah, Manasseh's grandson, and 
of Josiah's sons. In the latter part of this time, Ezekiel prophesied in 
Chaldea, and Daniel in Babylon. Hosea and Micah had lived in the days 



6 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



of Hezekiah ; Amos shortly before. Thus was the Jewish Church pre- 
pared for that great judgment, which was shortly to fall upon it. The 

CAPTIVITY, — delayed for a time in consequence of Josiah's reformation, 

came shortly afterwards, in the days of Zedekiah, Josiah's son. 

After the taking of Babylon, the era of the complete estabhshment of 
the Persian power, Cyrus left the supreme authority nominally in the 
hands of Darius the Mede, — according to Xenophon, his uncle, who lived, 
however, httle more than a year longer. (Dan. Y. 31.) Under both these 
princes, Daniel was chosen to exercise the office of chief president over the 
hundred and twenty princes, who seem to have been appointed over the 
king's revenue. (Dan. VT. 2.) His wisdom and incorruptness in this 
high office — virtues which the Persians afterwards found it scarce possible 
to secure in those who filled the like place — afford an example to all 
rulers, of the advantage of conducting public duties in the fear of God. 
For with all this vast burden, he foimd time to pray to God three times a 
day, and in consequence he continued " faithful, neither was there any error 
or fault found in him." (Dan. YI. 4.) His influence may have facilitated 
the restoration of his nation to their own land ; but the measure was so 
contrary to the ordinary pohcy of the Persians, whose object always was 
to break up the ties which bound together the subject-states of their em- 
pire, that its real motive can be found only in the declaration which com- 
mences the book of Ezra, that " the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, 
king of Persia." (Ezra, I. 1.) 

The seventy years, during which God had declared that Jerusalem and 
Judah should remain desolate, were now accomplished, {Dan. IX. 2.) and 
Cyrus made proclamation that they might re-occupy their land, (2 Chron. 
XXXVI. 22. B.C. 536,) and rebuild their temple. (Ezra, I. 2.) 

As the time drew nearer for that spiritual kingdom which was to arise 
out of Judaea, the influence of the Jewish people increased. Their inter- 
course with other nations was augmented by the settlement of a large 
colony at Alexandria, the seat of traffic, whence they spread into the west. 
Thus were the temporal plans of Alexander made subservient to the pur- 
poses of God. For the sake of this colony, the Jewish Scriptures were 
translated into the Greek language, and attention was drawn to them by 
their introduction into the great hbrary formed by King Ptolemy at 
Alexandria. This translation, called the Septuagint, from the number 
of persons \seventy-two] who were said to be employed upon it, made 
the Gentiles acquainted with the predictions of that universal empire, 
which was shortly to arise out of Judaea. (Tacitus, Hist. V. 13.) 

Among the apocryphal writings are found the books of Maccabees, 
which relate how the Jews defended themselves against a tyrannical prince 
of the family of the Seleucidse, named Antiochus Epiphanes. (B. C. 170.) 
They had been kindly treated by Alexander the Great, and received from 
him so many privileges, that Josephus, the Jewish historian, refers them to 
the efi'ect of a vision which Alexander had seen before he left home, and 
in which a person, who resembled the Jewish high-priest, encouraged him 
to his expedition. Alexander's successors likewise had favoured them, 
and settled them in various parts of their dominions. (Josephus, XII. 3.) 
But Antiochus Epiphanes sought the destruction of their nation and wor- 



LECTURE I. — JEWISH HISTORY. 



7 



ship, as though he would have prevented the estahhshment of that spiritual 
empire, for which these were making provision. Not that Antiochus, more 
than worldly men in general, had any especial desire for the injury of the 
Church ; but the measures, which were essential to its being, interfered 
with those worldly plans, which he thought more important. If the 
Jewish system, which now seemed to hang by a thread, was done away, 
where would have been the spiritual preparation for Messiah's kingdom ? 
But what was this to the Grecian monarch, when he found that his empire 
was weakened by the prejudices which it involved? He found the Jews 
a separate people in the midst of the nations ; and in order to amalga- 
mate them with his other subjects, he determined to overthrow whatever 
was peculiar in their institutions. Rehgion he saw to be the basis of them 
all ; and as the first step, therefore, in Grecising the Jewish people, he re- 
quired them to renounce their faith. This is that " vile person," of whom 
Daniel prophecies in his eleventh chapter, who shall not " regard the God 
of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god ; for he shall 
magnify himself above all." (Ban. W. 37') Against him God raised up 
a brave family, called the Maccabees, from the title of their first leader, 
who, because he broke in pieces all opposition, was called the Hammerer. 
(3IaccabcBUS ivas a 'personal name. Compare Josephus, XII. 8 ; and 1 
Mace. II. 66.) Others have explained the name as being formed from the 
initial letters of a verse said to be written on their standard ; — " Mi Ca- 
moka Baalim Jehovah? Who among the Gods is Hke unto Thee, 
Lord ?" By this family the Jewish nation was preserved, when it seemed 
in the utmost danger : they maintained the peculiarity of its distinctive 
institutions ; and thus was fulfilled the prophecy of God, that it should 
continue to be a separate people till the coming of our Lord. " The 
sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his 
feet, until Shiloh come." {Gen. XLIX. 10.) 

The predictions of the prophet Daniel concerning Antiochus Epiphanes 
and the Jews who contended for the preservation of their Church and 
nation, have probably a further meaning, and describe the fate of Christ's 
Church and its enemies in after-times. Antiochus is but a type of every 
carnal ruler, who sacrifices the Church, because he finds it in his way in 
the attainment of earthly greatness. Yet these predictions depict exactly 
the conduct of this tyrannous king, and of the vahant Maccabees. 

The heroic days of the Maccabees were now passed ; and Antipater the 
Idumean, father of Herod, who was at present an adherent of Hyrcanus, 
was shortly afterwards made ruler of Judaea by Pompey. 

And now the world began to present a very different appearance from 
any thing which had been seen within the recollection of man. None of 
the three preceding empires had filled the earth so completely as did the 
Roman. The power of none seemed to be so well compacted. The 
Romans, who had never been a year at peace since their city was built, 
were now free from all enemies ; and the temple of Janus, which it was 
their custom to open whenever they went to war, was for the first time 
permanently closed. Mankind began to look with wonder on what should 
follow this new state of things. A contemporary heathen historian {Pohj- 
bius, I. 3.) expresses his surprise at seeing the whole destiny of the tribes 



8 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



of men thus gathered into a single channel, and ready to expand itself into 
some unwonted form. 

The general extension of the Greek language throughout the East co- 
operated with this universal outspread of the Roman power. The truths 
which had been gathered from the Old Testament worked among the hea- 
then. An universal empire — a reign of peace — the deliverance of man- 
kind, — these they knew were expected. Hence the Roman poet Virgil 
predicts the birth of one, who should bring back the era of ancient inno- 
cence and plenty. (Eel. IV.) {See Keble's Prcelectiones, vol. II. p. 
800, &c.) 

Such were men's expectations ; but, as has happened in all times, they 
expected from the world that which was to be manifested in the Church : 
for they knew not the full glory of that prophecy, which it has been 
given to us to understand, — 

" Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given : and the government 
shall be upon His shoulder : and His name shall be called Wonderful, 
Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." 
{Isaiah IX. 6 — ) 



See Wilberforce's Five Empires, from which this is extracted. 

Geography, — * Journeyings of the Israelites from Egypt to the Land of 
Promise." — {Published at Eton.) 



The Countries to he marked out in Indian Ink — The line of the 
Journey to be coloured Red, and traced through the following places: — 

1. Etham, or Suez. 2. Pihahiroth. 3. Baalzephon. 4. Marah. 5. Elim. 6. En- 
campment in Desert of Sin, Lat. 29° 5.' Long. 33° 20.' 7. Encampment, Lat 28" 
50.' Long. 33° 40.' 8. Dophkah. 9. Alush. 10. Rephidim. IL Massah and 
Meribah. 12. Jehovah Nissi. 13. Encampment, Lat. 28° 20.' Long. 34° 10.' 14. 
Encampment, Lat. 29° 15.' Long. 34° 9.' 15. Taberah. 16. Kibroth Hattaavah. 
17. Hazeroth. 18. Rithmah. 19. Rimraon Parez. 20. Libnah. 21. Rissah. 22. 
Kehelathah. 23. Mount Shaphar. 24. Haradah. 25. Makheloth. 26. Tahath. 27. 
Tarah. 28. Mithcah. 29. Hashmonah. 30. Mosera. 31. Bene Jaakan. 32. Hor 
Hagidgad. 33. Jotbathah. 34. Ebronah. 35. Encampment near Ezion Geber, 
Lat. 29° 30.' Long. 35° 5.' 36. Encampment, Lat. 29° 50.' Long. 35° 37. 
Mount Hor, near Petra. 38. Zalmonah. 39. Punon. 40. Oboth. 41. Ije Abarim, 
Lat. 30O 50.' Long. 35o 55.' 42. Zared. 43. Ar of Moab. 44. Baal-Peor. 45. 
Mount Nebo, or Pisgah. 46. Shittim. 



LECTURE II. 



ASIA. 



Progress of Geographical Knowledge. 

The first map was made on brass by Anaximander, (Herod. V. 49.) 
representing the Persian Empire as far as Beloo Dagh, about 70o E. 
Long. — The next addition to Geography was made by Dicccarchus and 
Nearchus, (followers of Alexander the Great, ) who published accounts of 
India and the Persian Gulf. — The Europeans knew very httle more of 
Asiatic Geography, till the time of Marco Polo, (the Venetian Herodotus,) 
who resided at the court of Kublai Khan in China, from 1275, A. D. to 
1292, and wrote an account of the Mongohan Empire, as far as Japan, 
leading the way to Columbus' discovery. — The true relative positions of 
these countries were not known till the Cape of Good Hope was discovered 
by Diaz, in 1487, A. D. and doubled 1497, by Vasco de Gama. 

The North of Asia was first explored by the Russians, in the 16th and 
17th Centuries. — The N. E. Cape was circumnavigated first by Hetman, 
a Russian, in 1648, A. D. and this discovery was completed by Peter the 
Great, who took possession of Kamschatka, 1696, A. D. Our knowledge 
of China was obtained through the Jesuit Missionaries of Rome, who got 
into the country, and in favour with the court, from A. D. 1600, to 1759 ; 
— and of Japan, from Portuguese and Dutch Missionaries and Merchants. 

Description of the Continent of Asia. 

The chief features of this country, which have particularly affected the 
march of Civihzation, and the Pohtical History of the Eastern Hemisphere, 
are the direction (E, and W.) of the Highlands of Central Asia, with 
their River System, — and the surrounding Lowlands. 

First. — The Mountain ranges may best be resolved into three chains 
(with their ramifications ): — 

1 . The Central line, which, for distinction, we may call the Hindoo 
Coosh chain, extends, with hardly an interruption, from Caucasus in a S. 
E. direction under the Caspian Sea, forming the Northern Boundary of 
Persia, Cabid, and India, and ending in the Himalaya. 

c 



10 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



2. The Tauric range is almost parallel with the former, lying to the South 
of it, and commencing in Asia Minor, separating Mesopotamia and Assy- 
ria from Persia, skirting the Southern coast of Persia, — and then running 
Northwards, parallel with the Indus, joins the Hindoo Coosh Proper. 

3. The Altaic range runs in a N. E. direction, from Hindoo Coosh 
Proper, to the N, E. Cape. 

Now, within these mountain ranges, there lie two systems of Table-land: 
— One on the West, between the Tauric and Central range, reaching from 
the Black Sea to the Himalaya, and called the Plateau of Iran. — -The other 
on the East, between the Himalaya and Altaic range, reaching to the coast 
of Corea, and called the Plateau of Thibet or Cobi ; but this Eastern Pla- 
teau is cut up into vallies and mountains, and consequently produces a 
very extensive river-system, whereas Iran has no rivers, the leading pecu- 
liarity of Persia. 

The Rivers that flow from the Highlands of Central Asia are the fol- 
lowing : — From the Altaic range, there flow into the Arctic Sea, North- 
wards, the Irtish, the Yenisei, and the Lena : from the Plateau of Thibet 
and Cobi, flow Eastwards, the Hoang Ho, (Yellow River,) and Yang-tse- 
hiang, fthe Blue River,) into the Pacific, and a number of parallel rivers 
Southwards, (of which the Irrawaddy is the Westernmost.) From the 
Himmalaya flow the Burrampooter, Ganges, and Indus, in a diverging 
course ; and from Caucasus, through Taurus, flow the Tigris and Eu- 
phrates, Southwards. From the S. W. of the Altaic, flow the Sihon and 
Jihon, Westwards, into the Aral Sea. [Observe the double political sys- 
tems, connected with the double River-courses of Asia ; e, g. Delhi and 
H' Lassa, Samarcand and Bokhara, Nineveh and Babylon ; and compare 
this with the Nile.'] 

Secondly. — The chief Lowlands are 6 in Number. 

1 . The Chinese, along the Pacific, between the Tropic of Cancer and 
Parallel of 40° N. 

2. The Siamese and Camboyan. 

3. Hindustan. 

4. Arabia and Syria. 

5. Northern Siberia, between 50o and 70® N. Lat. 

6. Bucharia; which last has been very important, from its inland posi- 
tion, in its effects upon History. Cyrus and Alexander, from the W.; the 
Chinese, Bactrians, and Great Mogols, from the E. have been stopped 
here : and it now opposes the progress of the three great Eastern Em- 
pires, — Chinese on E., Russian on N., and British on S. Connected 
with this singular feature is the fact of the Caspian being considerably 
below the level of the Black Sea, (as the Dead Sea is below the Medi- 
terranean.) 



Poliiical History. 

This is intimately connected with the Geographical features. — Its Em- 
pires have been very diff'erent from European, — arrived at full growth 
suddenly (and not gradually,) and then as suddenly overthrown. (Led. 



LECTURE II. ASIA.. 



11 



The primary cause of this is the inscrutable counsel of God, (occa- 
sionally revealed to us, as in the case of Cyrus, raised up for the sake of the 
Jewish Church;) but the second causes have been the peculiarities of cli- 
mate, &c. inducing the wandering Tribes of Central Asia to be continually 
changing their abodes, descending to the Lowlands, conquering an Em- 
pu'e, and faUing into the luxurious habits of the conquered ; (Arrowsmitk, 
XXIV. 2.) e.ff. Turks in Constantinople, Parthians in Persia, Mongols 
in India and China ; and so becoming an easy prey to the next invaders. 
Again, these Empires were soon lost, owing to the despotic principle of 
government, (itself the result mainly of polygamy ;) consequently were 
spht into satrapies, whose Princes rebelled ; e. g. Corn. Nep. Conon, 2. 3. 
In modern times the present Mandchoo or Tatarian dynasty of China, and 
the Pacha of Egypt's rebeUion, will serve as illustrations. 

For the same cause, the commerce never varied much, but passed from 
the hands of one dynasty to another. It followed the course of great 
rivers, (e. g. Babylonia presents a succession of flourishing cities ; Arrow- 
smith, Chap. XXII. Sect. 32, 37, 61.) much aided by the great military 
roads ; and was mainly carried on by land, till the discovery of America ; 
e. g. from Sardis to Susa, described by Herodotus ; and under the Caspian 
Sea, across the Gobi to Serica, as described by Strabo. 



The Human Race of Asia. 

Man placed in Eden — the fall — the promise in the line of Seth — Cain's 
first city called Enoch — the flood — {Gen. I. — VII. St. Luke, III. — Arrow- 
smith, Chap. XXII. Sect. 41 — ) Noah's Prophecy — Babel and the dis- 
persion. 

Science has reduced the (more than 2000) known languages of the 
world to comparatively few heads, and shown the close afiinity of some of 
these heads, (or * Fanulies of Language', as they are called,) and will pro- 
bably go still further. According to Holy Scripture, there was originally 
one speech, into which such a variety of modifications was introduced, as 
effected the dispersion of mankind. Some of the most defined groupes of 
languages are — 

1. The Semitic (Shem's,) or Syro-Arabian, extending through Syria, 
Arabia, and Abyssinia, and the N. Coast of Africa. Canaan, Phoenicia, 
and its colonies spoke the Hebrew language, though they were of Ham's 
family. Gen. X. v, 15, &c. 

2. The Japetic (or Indo-European,) covering nearly the whole of 
Eujope, and stretching in a S. E. direction, through Armenia, Kurdistan, 
Chaldsea, Media, Persia, and India. (The exceptions in Europe are Lap- 
land, Finland, Esthonia, and Hungary, which belong to what is called the 
Uralian family — Turkey, which belongs to the Tatarian — Malta, to the 
Arabic — The Basque or Biscayan provinces, which have their own distinct 
language, unlike any other yet known, except that it has some Coptic 
words.) 

c 2 



12 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



The Indo-European family nearly coincides with the Geographical 
limits which have been assigned to the Caucasian (or fair) race of man- 
kind. \See JPrichard.'] 

Its Suh-families are, the Sanskrit (or ancient language of India), the 
Persian, the Sclavonic, the Gothic, and the Pelasgian. 

Tlie Sclavonic includes the modern Russ and Polish. The Gothic in- 
cludes the Scandinavian tongues, {viz. Norske, Swedish, and Danish,) 
and the Teutonic, (viz. German, Dutch, and Anglo-Saxon.) The Pelasgian 
includes the Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, and French. The Celtic 
includes the Gaelic, Erse, Welsh, Armorican, and Manx. 

These two are the only well-defined groupes ; the others are not as yet 
classified thoroughly : some of the least indefinite are — 

3. The Coptic (ancient Egyptian,) which has a nearer affinity to the 
Semitic than Japetic, (though see Wilberforce^ s Five Empires, p. 22, 
note). It has a grammatical analogy with all the languages of Africa, 
(that is to say, its inflexions are made at the beginning of a word, and not 
at the end, like Greek and Latin, &c.) 

4. The monosyllabic family {i. e. languages which have only one syl- 
lable for a word, and no inflexions,) is found in Tibet, Trans-Gangetic 
India, and China. 

5. A group, including the Tatarian (or Turkish,) the Mongolian, and 
Tunguse (or Mandchoo) families, spreads from Central Asia, through Asia 
Minor, Tataria, and Mongolia. 

6. The Samoyed group extends along the northern coast, from the 
White Sea to beyond the R. Lena, and is found inland at the source of 
the Yenisei. 

7. The Malay extends chiefly over a vast insular area from Madagascar 
to Easter Island, and from Formosa to New Zealand. [The Malay is so 
like the Chinese, that Dr. Leyden and others dont give it a distinct place.] 

8. In Australia, Van Diemen's Land, and New Guinea, there is a race, 
similar in physical conformation and language, called sometimes AlforaSy 
or Negritoes, from their resembling the African Negroes in colour. 

9. There are 4 or 5 groupes of languages spoken at the N. E. of Asia, 
of which not much is known as yet. The researches of W. and A. Von 
Humboldt, in America, have discovered, that amidst all the varieties of 
dialects, &c. there exists one type (called poly synthetic, from the words 
being all compounded of many roots,) from one extremity to the other ; 
and that there are coincidences between their customs and words, and 
those of the Eastern nations of Asia, too marked to be accidental. 

[As an instance of a Polysynthetic word, litdigatschis means, " Give me 
your pretty little paw" — being thus compounded ; — K. stands for ' thou :' 
uli, part of a word wulet, * pretty :' gat, part of wich-gat, * a paw :' schis, a 
diminutive. This process is called agglutination.'] 

N. B. — The resemblances among languages are of two kinds ; identity 
of words, and identity of grammatical forms. Colonel Vans Kennedy 
shows 900 words common to the Sanskrit and other branches of the Indo- 
European family. It was found also that the peculiar terminations, by 
which the 1 st, 2nd, and 3rd persons are expressed in all verbs of this 
family, have their foundation in pronouns : i.e. the pronoun was simply 



LECTURE III. AFRICA. 



13 



placed at the end, and became corrupted into its present form. For in- 
stance, the 3rd person plm-al of the Latin, Persian, Greek and Sanskrit, 
ends in nt, nd, vro, nti, (or nt) . It is in the Celtic language we find the 
key to this inflexion, for the pronoun meaning thei/ in Celtic is ' ynt.' As 
another instance of these affinities of language we may refer to the Per- 
sia)i for the positive degree of our English word ' better / in which lan- 
guage * beh' is ' ffood.' 



(N. B. — The Mountains, Rivers, and Countries, the Seas and Gulfs, in Arrowsmith's 
Large Map, to be marked down in modern names, with ancient references. The coun- 
tries where the Semitic languages are spoken, to be painted Pink ; the Indo-European, 
Green ; the Coptic, Blue ; the Monosyllabic, Yellow ; the Tatarian, &c. light Green ; 
the Samoyed, Lilac ; the Malay Red; the rest left uncoloured.) 



LECTURE III. 

AFRICA. 



Geography. 

The part of the continent properly called Africa was about Carthage. 
The Punic word for a colony is Afryqah, The name of Africa was not 
used by the Romans till after the First Punic war. It was formerly called 
Libya, from Lehabim or Lubim. {Arrowsmithy V. 2, 3.) The great 
regularity of its coast distinguishes it from Asia and Europe. The circum- 
navigation and discovery of its -peninsular shape, recorded Herod. IV. 42, 
is proved to be true, by the very fact that made him doubt it. {Arrow- 
smith, Chap. V. note 1.) On Hanno's voyage, see Arrowsrrdth, XXIX. 
Sect. 26, 27. 

The continent seems to consist of two great mountainous table-lands — 
one called the Atlas chain, extending across the whole Northern coast ; 
the other called Gebel Komri, in the centre, which is much the most 
extensive, but almost a terra incognita. Between these plateaux lies a 
lowland of sand, which probably was {Cf. LyelVs Geology) the bed of a 
dried-up Ocean, as large as the Mediterranean, called the ' Great Sahara.' 



14 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



{Herod. IV. 181, gives a very correct account of it. The same peculiar 
feature extends under the same degree of Latitude, through Arabia, and S. 
of Persia, as far as N. India.) 

Northern Africa, (like Iran, Led. 2.) has no large rivers, owing to the 
direction of the Mountain Chain, which runs close to the Sea, till it comes 
to Egypt, when it turns Southwards, parallel with the Nile. 

We know little or nothing of Southern Africa ; but the numerous rivers 
make it probable that there are no deserts there, and the smallness of those 
rivers (compared with Asia,) makes it probable that there are no very 
high snow Mountains. 

[Great and sudden political revolutions seem to have been as rare in 
Central Africa, as they were frequent in Central Asia. The only excep- 
tion is the propagation of Mohammedanism, as far as the Niger. The 
deserts protected the people from the conqueror, and yet furnished induce- 
ments to commerce, by the great magazines of salt which they contain. 
The Northern Coast of Africa forms an exception to this observation. The 
Arabs (or Moors) have made continual changes there.] 

Rivers, ^c. 

For the Nile, see Arrowsmith, Chap. XXVIII. Sect. 6, 8, 9, 10, 19. 
For the Niger, see Reichardt's Theory, mentioned in ArrowsmitKs Atlas 
and Co'm'pendium, Chap. XXIX. Sect. 21, which has been fully proved by 
the Landers in 1830. Its principal source is about 250 miles, E. by N. 
of Sierra Leone. It flows into the Bights of Benin and Biafra by 22 
mouths, some of which are marked in the map, as Formosa R., Waree 
R. &c. 

The level of the Red Sea is 32| feet higher than the Mediterranean, 
which accounts for the difficulty found in making a water communication 
between them. The project of forming a canal to unite the Red Sea with 
the Nile was entertained first by Sesostris — commenced by Pharoah-necho 
— continued by Darius — completed by Ptolemy Philadelphus, who applied 
the invention of locks, to remedy the difierence of level. But the canal 
was navigable only during the inundation of the Nile. 

The Human Race of N. Africa. 

AU along the Northern Coast were the Tyrian Colonies, (called Bi- 
Ungues, because they used the Phoenician or Hebrew, and the Libyan or 
Berber language. See Plautus, Poenulus, Act. V. Sc. 1 .) In the time of 
the Vandals, there were found, close to Tangier, two pillars and a fountain 
with this inscription, " "We fly from Joshua the son of Nun,'* in the Punic 
language. Arabian (or Moorish) races possess the N. coast now. The 
next race below the Atlas chain, in the S. provinces of Morocco and Bar- 
bary, are the Amazighs or Berbers, who comprise the Tuaricks also, but 
not the Tibboos, just South and West of Fezzan. These Berbers were the 
ancient Libyans, the same race as Jagurtha, &c. All along the Central 



LECTURE ni. — AFRICA. 



15 



chain of Mountains in Soudan, &c. are the Negroes, who speak various 
languages, different from one another in details, hut alike in making the 
grammatical inflexions at the beginning of a word. The same may be said 
of all that we know of Southern Africa. The ancient Ethiopians were 
very nearly allied to the ancient Egyptians, as is indicated Gen. X. v, 6. 
by Cush (the LXX name of jEthiopia,) and Misraim (the name of Egypt,) 
being brothers. The present Nubians, who are settled in Meroe, are not 
the same as the ancient Ethiopians, the former having been brought from 
Western Oases by the Romans, and being more of the Negro cast. They 
call themselves Kenouz, but are called by others Barabras, or Berberins, 
but are not considered the same as the Berbers of the West, (only three 
words in the two languages being found alike.) The name of Berbers origi- 
nally belonged to these Nubians, and was extended by the Arabs to the 
West. The Abyssinians are like the Arabs of the opposite coast in lan- 
guage. 

The ancient Egyptians are doubtless in some degree represented by the 
present Copts, only the latter have been much mixed with Arabs, Franks, 
&c. and they now speak Arabic. The Coptic is extinct as a spoken lan- 
guage, and has been so since 1633, A. D. but it remains in the religious 
worship of the people, who are Christians, as also are the Abyssinians. It 
almost stands alone, has no affinity of root, but some of grammatical in- 
flexion to the other languages of Africa ; but has been shown, by Dr. 
Young and Prof. Lepsius, to have some words (and those the necessaries 
of life, as bread, &c.) the same as the Basque, and the inflexions of the 
Pronouns the same as the Semitic Hebrew. 



History of Egypt. 

[For the ancient History of Egypt, the Chapter on the subject in Bossuet's Hist. Universelle, 
and the English Universal History, should be read, with Sir G. Wilkinson's Works.] 

Heeren has laboured to show, that civilization and commerce, with the 
rehgious worship of Jupiter Ammon, descended the Nile from Meroe and 
^Ethiopia. It seems probable that they did descend the Nile, but only from 
Thebes to Memphis and Alexandria. The Pyramids of Meroe are much smaller 
and ruder, and the sepulchral ruins of the latter are inferior to the Egyp- 
tian : but his researches do not prove the superior antiquity of Meroe over 
Egypt ; on the contrary there is no ^Ethiopian record that goes back be- 
yond the middle of the Egyptian Monarchy. The flourishing epoch of 
Meroe was between 700 and 800, B. C. cotemporary with Hezekiah. We 
read of mutual defeats and victories between the ^Ethiopians and Egyp- 
tians, such as the victories of Nitocris, an Ethiopian Queen, Herod. II. 
100; and of Sesostris, (or Rameses the Great,) the Egyptian, subduing 
-Ethiopia. 

[The story of the Tyrian Hercules destroying the Tyrant Busiris, (who 
forbad strangers to enter his land,) shows that the Phoenicians introduced 
commerce and civilization into Egyptian Thebes, and afterwards to 
Memphis.] 



16 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



With regard to Egypt in particular, the exact similarity of the castes 
and religious worship with that of the Hindoos has led writers to conjec- 
ture that one was a colony of the other ; but the absence of anything like 
Hieroglyphics, and the dissimilarity of language, make that idea untenable. 
The fact is, that they were both (with the Semitic Assyrians) the earliest 
settlements in the world, and all their eras have been proved to reach up 
to the same period, about 2200, B. C. soon after the flood ; and conse- 
quently we might naturally expect similarity in customs, though not much 
in language, after the dispersion of Babel. Our knowledge of ancient 
Egypt is chiefly derived from Scripture, compared with the ruins of monu- 
ments and Hieroglyphic records, which have in late years been understood 
by the aid of the famous Rosetta Stone, (now in the British Museum) 
which contained a Greek Translation under two of the three Egyptian 
forms of writing.* For these discoveries we are indebted to Dr. Young 
and M. Champollion. Dr. Young was aided in his researches by some 
most extraordinary coincidences. For instance, a copy of a demotic MS. 
was given him by Champollion in 1822, part of which the latter had de- 
cyphered : after Dr. Young's return to England, Mr. Grey gave him a 
Greek papyrus he had purchased at Thebes, which he found to be nothing 
less than a translation of the very MS. Champollion had given him, and it 
actually bore the title of " copy of an Egyptian writing." It should be 
added in corroboration of these discoveries, that they have thrown great 
light upon, as well as derived it from, Clemens of Alexandria's Stromata, 
Lib. V. Sect. 9. p. 245, ed. Potter, where he gives a full but intricate 
account of the Egyptian alphabetical, phonetic (or sound-expressing,) and 
hieroglyphic (or pictorial-allegorical) character. See English Review, 
No. VI. The series of Kings, discovered on Monuments of Thebes, 
corresponds with what is occasionally recorded in Scripture, and with the 
catalogue of 3 1 dynasties of Kings, enumerated by Manetho, a High Priest 
of Heliopolis, B. C. 260. On the ancient and modern name of Egypt, see 
Arrowsmith, XXVIII. 1, 31. The history of Egypt will be found to illus- 
trate Gen. IX. V. 25 — 27. First, the Egyptians were enslaved by an Ara- 
bian, or more probably Assyrian, Nomad tribe, who are called Hyk-shos, 
(Shepherd kings.) Their banishment and migration to Greece is alluded 
to in the legend of Danaus and jEgyptus. {Bulwer''s Athens, \. p. 15, 
16. notes.) These were dominant in Egypt when Abraham was there, 
as shown by Gen. XLVI. v. 34 ; for the Egyptian dynasties did not admit 
strangers, {cf. Busiris.) The reason of their being so acceptable to the 
reigning dynasty (the 1 7th,) was, that they were Shepherds, like the Hyk- 
shos. This dynasty was expelled by Amosis, (called Amenophis 1st.) who 
naturally knew not Joseph," and reduced the pastoral Hebrews to sla- 
very, and made them build their cities and monuments. (Biodorus.) The 
Exodus took place at the commencement of the 15th Century, B. C. 1491, 
(215 years after Jacob's arrival, 400 after Abraham's leaving Haran. Acts 



* The three Egyptian forms of writing were,— 1. Hieroglyphics, e. g. a man walking on the Sea, 
to express an impossibility ! This would almost account for the existence of Christianity in their 
representatives at this very day. 2. The Hieratic, a written language used by the Priests. 3. The 
Demotic, or Enchorial, i. e. used by the People. 



LECTURE III.— AFRICA. 



17 



VII. 6.) and it coincides with the last year of a Pharaoh, called Rameses, 
in the Hierogly|)hic inscriptions. The silence of Scripture on the con- 
quests of Sesostris (Ramses 3rd.) the founder of the 1 9th dynasty, and 
the most brilliant epoch of Egyptian History, is accounted for by his 
reigning during the 40 years in the wilderness." Under him Egypt 
seems to have gained a short-lived Empire of Asia and Africa, and he left 
a series of monuments of himself in Palestine and Ionia, {Herod. II. 1 05. 
and Maundrell,) like Alexander in Cabul, and near the Hydaspes. {Arrow- 
smithy XXV. 3.) Mons. Ferrand in his Esprit de 1' Histoire" ascribes 
the downfall of the Egyptian kingdom {humanly speaking) to Sesostris' 
having changed the old institutions, abolished the monarchy, and set up a 
Dodecarchy, or Twelve Princes elected by the people. Scripture gives an 
account of a King, named Shishak, conquering Jerusalem in the reign of 
Rehoboam. The Monuments make a Monarch of the name of Shishonk 
begin his reign, and the 21st. dynasty, at this precise period, 971 B. C. 

The next important Epoch is the reign of Psammetichus, about B. C. 
650, after the country had been resolved into its original ^ Dodecarchy' 
(or 12 kingdoms :) he being one was put to flight by the others, and re- 
gained not only his own, but the whole of Egypt, by aid of Carian and 
Greek mercenaries. His son Pharaoh-necho invaded Assyria, slew K, 
Josiah, and captured Jerusalem. {Herod. II. 159.) B. C. 608. Herodotus 
does not mention (but Josephus does) what we read Jerem. XLVI. 2, of 
the defeat of Necho by Nebuchadnezzar at Circesium on the Euphrates, 
and the conquest of Egypt and Pharaoh-Hophra (or Apries,) B. C. 571. 
{Jerem. XLIV. 30, and Ezekiel, XXXI, &c.) There is a remarkable -^m- 
iphecj Fzekiel, XXX. v. 13,— "There shall be no more a Prince of the 
land of Egypt." Herodotus and Diodorus speak of a king named Amasis 
after this time, but in the monuments he never receives the Egyptian titles 
of Royalty, (Pharaoh, from Phra ' the Sun,') but the Semitic name 
* Melek,' showing he reigned as an usurper, or viceroy for a foreign lord ; 
meaning both a bee and a Prince, same as the Greek ixeXirra and fiedcovj 
from fieXi. {Cf. English Rev. VI. p. 402. Kehle's Prcelectiones, vol. 2. p, 
752, on VirgiVs Ath Georgic.) Diodorus says he was of low birth, and his 
son of the same name was viceroy under Darius. It was in the reign of 
Psammenitus, the son of Amasis, that Cambyses conquered Egypt, B. C. 
525. For the further proof of the fulfilment of this prophecy, see Arroiv- 
smith. Chap. XXXVIII. Sect. 3. and 36. 

For Ethiopia and Meroe, see Arrowsmith, Chap. XXIX. Sect. 1, 2, 3, 
5, 9, 12. For Abyssinia, see Sect. 34, 35. For the Cape of Good Hope, 
Sect. 42, 43. For Fernando Po, St. Helena, and Sierra Leone, Sect. 50, 
53. For Timbuctoo, Sect. 56. For the revolting History of the Canary 
Isles, Sect. 59. 



[The modern names of the Seas, Gulfs, Mountains, Rivers, Countries, and chief 
places to be marked down, with ancient References, especially to Egypt. Mark in 
Red Hanno's voyage, given in Arrowsmith's Compendium, Chap. XXXIX. 26, 27.] 



18 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



I^ECTURE IV. 

ASSYRIAN EMPIRE. 



Geographical Description. 

There is no actual proof of any countries but Media, Armenia, and 
Assyria Proper, (2 Kings, XVII. 6.) Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, being 
subject to what is called the Assyrian, or rather the Babylonian Empire of 
Nebuchadnezzar. As however, through commerce, Babylon was brought 
into contact with Arabia, it will also come under the brief review of the 
Geography of the Assyrian Empire. Beginning with the Easternmost, 
we have Media, (Irak Ajemi,) Arrowsmith, Chap. XXIV. 11, 12. It is 
the N. W. part of the great Plateau of Iran. It has a general elevation of 
between 4000 and 5000 feet, separated however by deep valleys, and Mt. 
Sahend, rising 9000, and Mt. Savellan, nearly 13,000 feet. Near the 
river Amardus, on the left bank, about 36° 40.' N. Lat. is a city in ruins, 
called Takht-i-Suleyman, (Solomon's throne) which accords much better 
with the site of Ecbatana, than Hamadan does. 

Armenia and the N. part of Assyria ( Kourdistan) form the N. W. 
boundary of the Plateau of Iran. Assyria is divided into three Geogra- 
phical districts ; the whole chain of mountains 3000 to 5000 feet, under 
the generic name of Taurus ; the stony and sandy elevated plains (1550 
feet) of Syria, Mesopotamia, and the E. of Tigris ; and the low watery 
plains of Babylonia, inundated like Egypt for 9 months in the year. The 
peculiar feature of the Valley of the Jordan was spoken of Led. 2. The 
great Syrian Desert is not a bare wide waste of sand, but more resembling 
the Asiatic steppes, covered with herbage, and inhabited by Nomad races. 
Judsea rises from Jaffa in 4 terraces, very fertile on the West, very barren 
on E. down to the Dead Sea. Arabia resembles Africa in its desert fea- 
tures, want of rivers, and climate, and Asia in the character of Nomad 
tribes, who have gone forth (like the races of Central Asia) to conquer the 
world ; and if it may be said in a geographical sense, that Arabia belongs 
to Africa, in an historical point of view Egypt belongs to Asia. The mon- 
soons of the Arabian Gulf are particularly to be observed, as having been 
so serviceable to navigation. During the summer, north winds prevail 
down the Arabian Gulf, and south-west winds in the Indian Ocean ; and 
just the contrary in the winter. 



LECTURE IV. ASSYRIAN HISTORY. 



19 



Arabia was often invaded by the great Asiatic powers, but never con- 
quered. Hor. 0^/. I. 29. 1. 

It is said that Alexander saw its fitness to be the seat of a great Em- 
pire, but died at Babylon before he could carry out any plan into execu- 
tion. It was in the reign of Caligula (not Augustus, as Arroicsmith states 
Ch. XXItl. 5,) that SX\\\& Gallus proceeded into the country with 10,000 
men, (1000 of them being Nabathsean Arabs, and 500 Jews,) under the 
guidance of their Prince Syliaeus. 

iEhus Gallus started from Suez, and after a voyage of fifteen days down 
the Red Sea, landed at Leuce Kome, (El Haura) 25 N. Lat. in the terri- 
tory of Obodas : he then marched E. N. E. along the skirts of the moun- 
tains to Anizeh, 43° E. Long. 26° 30' N. Lat.; thence in a S. E. direction to 
Merab (the MetropoHs) 25° N. Lat. 48° E. Long.; thence right across the 
country S. W. to Mount Taief 21° 40' N. 41° 30' E. Then S. E. to 
Marsyabae (Sabbia) 16° 30' N. 44° E.; thence was led round and round 
Northwards to Nagara 20° N. 44° E.; to Sofr, 20° 30' N. 41° E.; and so 
along the coast to Nere Kome, or " watering Place," which is the same 
meaning and probably the same site as lambia. There they embarked, 
and sailed up to Myos Hormos 27° 10' N. 34° 40' E.; with as prodigious 
a loss as marked the very parallel expedition of the British troops from 
Cabul to Jellalabad. The time occupied in advancing was six months, in 
retreating 800 miles 60 days, from Nere Kome to Myos Hormos, 1 1 days. 
\^See Forster's Arabian Geography^ and Conders Modern Traveller^] 

Ethnogra'phy . 

The language of Media is distinctly Indo-European, belonging to 
the Persian Stock. The language of Armenia is of the same Indo-Euro- 
pean Tribe ; the river Cjtus forms the boundary between this tribe of 
tongues and the Tatarian, &c. The Armenians came from Cappadocia, 
and have nothing to do with Aram, son of Shem. They do not call them- 
selves by this name, and the language which wa^ spoken in Babylonia 
(commonly called the Chaldee, but more properly Aramaean,) is Semitic. 

The Semitic race have been thrust out of Assyria by the Japetic, accord- 
ing to prophecy, (Gen. IX. 27.) and the Kurds (Carduchi,) who are sup- 
posed to represent the Chaldeean race, are Indo-European. The Chaldgean 
conquerors, led by Nebuchadnezzar, seem to have adopted the language 
of the conquered Babylonians, which explains what has just been said, 
that the Chaldee tongue is Semitic, but the Chaldeean race are Japetic (or 
Indo-European.) The Chaldee was learnt by the Jews when in Babylon, 
so that they forgot their own. The words ' Mene, Mene, Tekel, Uphar- 
sin,' are Semitic (Hebrew.) The Chaldaean astrologers therefore, either 
could not read the old letters, (called Samaritan,) or could not in- 
terpret them. The Phcenicians (though descendants of Ham,) learnt the 
Semitic tongue of the Jews. Punic was as like Hebrew, as Dutch is to 
German. The Syriac language was Semitic ; it was common in Palestine 
at our Saviour's time. The Arabians, as chiefly descendants of Ishmael, 
are of the Semitic tribe. 

[N. B. The great mark of the Semitic languages is their having dissyl- 
labicy or triliteral roots.] 

d2 



20 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



Commerce^ ^:^c. of the Assyrian Empire, 

Babylon was called Uhe Head of Gold' by Daniel, Ch. II. 38. Till the 
discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, all the traffic from the East flowed 
through the Persian Gulf, chiefly to Gerra, and so up the Euphrates. 
Herod. I. 194, tells us of an extensive trade in the necessaries of life being 
carried on with the Armenians. Petra was the dep6t of the Indian com- 
merce carried on between them and the Arabians. But most of the Phoe- 
nician commerce must have fallen into their hands by the conquest of 
Tyre, (Arrowsmiih, Chap. XX. Sect. 20.) and that was the most extensive 
the ancient world ever saw, reaching from Britain to Ceylon. On this 
subject we learn most from Ezekieh Chap. XXVII. in which * Senir' means 
mount Hermon ; *Bashan,' Batansea; ' Ashurites,' Assyrians ; *Chittim,' 
Cyprus ; ' the isles of Elishah,' the coasts of Hellas, Greece, {Arrowsmithy 
Chap. JNl.Sect. 2.); 'Arvad,' Aradus; * Gebal,' Byblus; ' Lud,' N. Egypt; 
* Phut,' N. W. of Africa ; * Gammadims,' brave mountaineers from Leba- 
non ; ' Tarshish,' Tartessus in Spain ; * Javan, Tubal, and Meshech,' 
Ionia, Moschi, and Tibareni, {Arrowsmithy Chap. XXII. 2.); * Togarmah,* 
Cappadocia ; *Dedan,' {y. 15,) Heeren considers to mean one of the Bah- 
rein Islands in the Persian Gulf, and to differ from *Dedan,' {v. 20.) a 
town in Arabia ; * Minnith,' (Judg. XI. 33,) and Pannag were towns in 
Judaea, which supplied Tyre with wheat, (Acts, XII. 20.); * Helbon', 
Aleppo ; * Dan and Javan', are supposed to be cities near Bab-el-Mandeb ; 
' Kedar,' Nomad tribes of N. Arabia (Gen. XXV. 13); ^ Shebah and Raa- 
mah,' Arabia Felix ; ' Haran, Canneh and Eden,' Charrae, Calno, (Is. X. 
9.) near Euphrates R. and Aden; 'Chilmad,' Carmania. Besides these 
places of commerce. Tyre had been much aided by King Solomon, (1 KingSy 
X. 22.) building Baalbec and Tadmor in the wilderness, which lay exactly 
in the line between Tyre and Babylon. The collection of Babylonian gems 
in the British Museum shows to what a state of perfection they had carried 
their manufactures and articles of luxury. — Josh. Chap. VII. 21, shows 
that at a very early period they had a cotton manufactory. From Persia 
and North India they procured gold and precious stones, and hounds — 
from Kandahar, and Bactra, shawls and fine wool — cinnamon from Ceylon 
probably, Jerem. VI . 20. 

On the Tigris and Euphrates, see Arrowsmithy Chap. XXII. 14. The 
dams and sluices, which were the contrivances for remedying the fall of 
the Euphrates, drain it of its waters before it reaches the sea. In some 
parts the Euphrates is more rapid than the Tigris, but the tide comes 20 
miles up the former, and not at all up the latter. Babylon had clay close 
by, more durable than stone, and from the neighbouring city of Is they 
procured bitumen : on the bricks of the ruins inscriptions are found, 
written like the Persian in the arrow-head character, but in a Semitic 
language : the length of the city, (according to Herod.^ was twelve geo- 
graphical miles ; now, from the first ruin on the E. bank (Mukallibe) to 
Birs Nimrod on the W. is 8 miles. (Christian Year, Whit-Monday.) 
Nebuchadnezzar built all his splendid city on the East bank. Its breadth 



LECTURE IV. — ASSYRIAN HISTORY. 



21 



was upwards of 6 or 7 miles. The River Euphrates has very little changed, 
except near the ruin of the palace (El Kasr,) where one tree still seems to 
mark the site of the hanging gardens. — The Magian priest-caste seems to 
have existed in Babylon, independent of the Chaldseans, which names 
afterwards became synonymous. The religion apparently was the same as 
the Persian fire-worship. 

History. 

Daniel, XL 31 — 45. The Assyrian (or rather Babylonian) Empire was 
the head of gold. Ham's family first rose to Empire thereabouts. — Gen. 
X. V. 9, and XI. v. 9, show that Nimrod, his grandson, B. C. 2200, built 
Babel. How this state passed into Semitic hands, appears (perhaps) from 
Gen. X. V. 11 — according to the reading of the text, " Asshur (son of 
Shem) went up and conquered him, and builded Nineveh." Hence we 
may account for the total disappearance of the family and language of Ham 
in those parts, but the margin of the Bible makes just the contrary sense. 
"He (Nimrod) went into Asshur (i. e. Assyria,) and builded Nineveh." 
[I have been informed by good Hebrew Scholars, that there is no doubt of 
the reading of the text, and not that of the margin, being the correct ver- 
sion.] We know positively nothing of Assyrian History, to Pul, B. C. 
761. (2 Kings, XY. 19.) The stories of Semiramis are evidently fabulous, 
and therefore cannot elucidate the subject. The next prince we read of, 
after Nimrod, is Ninus, about 2000 B.C. He is said to have built or en- 
larged a city of the same name. The Birs Nimrod, or ruin of a Tower, 
now standing on the plain of Babylon, is supposed to have been the tem- 
ple of Belus, built by Ninus. There were apparently two cities of the 
name of Ninus — One, as Herodotus says (1. 193 — 2. 150.) stood on the 
Tigris, that is the city commonly known by the name of Nineveh. The 
other on the Euphrates (Biodoriis 2, 7, on the authority of Ctesias.) It 
would seem therefore that the western side of Babylon (Birs Nimrod) was 
anciently called ' Ninus' — especially as Semiramis, the wife of Ninus, is 
said to have adorned Babylon, &c. 

It would appear that Pul was the king who repented at Jonah's preach- 
ing, and that Sardanapalus was his son. This king was the last of the first 
AssyrianEmpire. Arbaces the Mede, one of his subjects, rebelled against 
Sardanapalus, and took Nineveh by turning the Tigris, {Nahum, II. 6.) 
The dates of these times are very uncertain. Sardanapalus burnt himself 
in his palace, \_Cf. 1 Kings, XVI. 18.] and an independent Median king- 
dom arose, the last of which dynasty was Astyages. Still it would appear 
that Assyria existed as a kingdom, and Babylon was its dependency. A 
remarkable elucidation of a Scriptural difficulty respecting Assyria and 
Babylon at this period was discovered within these few years. (Compare 
2 Kings, XVIII. 7 , and Isaiah, XXXIX, 1.) An Armenian fragment of 
Berosus informs us that Merodach-Baladan had murdered the governor of 
Babylon, and usurped the kingdom, and after three years Sennacherib con- 
quered him, and left his son Assordan (Esarhaddon) as viceroy at Baby- 
lon. This accounts for Merodach's applying to Hezekiah, who Hke him- 
self had revolted. 



22 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



The names of several kings of Assyria are mentioned in the Bible, from 
the 8th century B. C. downwards. On Tiglath-Pileser, see 2 Kings, XVI. 
8, 9. B. C. 730. On Salmaneser and the captivity of the ten tribes (pro- 
bably to be found in Gauzanitis of Kurdistan at present, as Nestorian 
Christians,) see 2 Kings, XVII. 5, 6.— XVIII. 9, 11. B. C. 722. On his 
immediate successor Sennacherib, (the only one mentioned by Herod. II. 
141,) and Esarhaddon, B. C. 714, see 2 Kings, XVIII. 13, and XIX. 36. 

It seems to have been about B. C. 620, that a northern nation" (which 
in the Hebrew is the meaning of ^Chaldsean,') a nomadic people of Central 
Asia, under Nebuchadnezzar, invaded and conquered Assyria, and founded 
an Empire more glorious than anything previous to it. (Isaiah, XXIII. v. 
13.) His conquest of Tyre and Egypt gave him the whole commerce of 
the world. Thus Canaan was the servant of Japheth ; and in Nebuchad- 
nezzar's other conquests began to be fulfilled the promise, * that he should 
' dwell in the tents of Shem.' Gen. IX. 27. For he it was that carried 
away Judah captive to Babylon^ in the days of Zedekiah, son of Josiah, 
B, C. 604. Herodotus does not mention Nebuchadnezzar, but he speaks 
of Nitocris as the great adorn er of Babylon, and the mother of the last 
king, Labynedus, (Belshazzar. ) Nebuchadnezzar is called his father, but 
really was his grandfather, and perhaps Nitocris was wife of Nebuchad- 
nezzar. Herodotus either wrote or intended to write a separate work on 
the Assyrian Empire, (l. 184,) so that his omissions are easily accounted 
for. On the way in which Babylon was taken (B. C. 538.) by Cyrus the 
Persian, see Isaiah, XLIV. v. 27, 28 — and Jeremiah, LI. 36, 37. 



[The Map of Asia to be done ; the Countries oi the Semitic tongue to be coloured 
Ued; the Indo European, Blue ; the Seas, Mountains, and Rivers, &c. of the whole 
to be marked ; Cities of the Assyrian Empire only.] 



LECTURE V. PERSIAN HISTORY. 



23 



LECTUEE V. 

PERSIAN HISTORY. 



Geography of Asia Minor and Iran. 

Most of the Persian Empire has been described geographically before. 
Its boundaries were the Euxine, the Hindoo-Coosh Range, and the Rivers 
laxartes and Oxus on the N.; the Indus on the E.; Arabia on the S.; the 
Nile, the Mediterranean, and Archipelago on the W. 

Asia Minor was added to the Persian Empire by Cyrus' conquest of 
Crcesus. Its configuration is not unlike the Plateau of Iran ; for it hes 
between two mountain ranges (Taurus on S., and a broken chain, probably 
connected with Antitaurus, on N.,) and the centre forms a series of elevated 
table-land, affording pasturage to the Nomadic Turcomans. These two 
ranges split into several branches towards the West, whence arise fertile 
valleys, and the fine rivers of that coast. The most remarkable portion of 
the peninsular is the volcanic district of Katakekaumen^ (Phrygia,) the 
craters of which are still perfectly defined, though they have been extinct 
3000 years. Asia Minor is a country of peculiar interest, as having been 
the arena of Asiatic battles, — as the Netherlands have been called * the 
cockpit of Europe.' 

The Plateau of Iran has two chief " Passes" from its northern natural 
boundary of mountains, — the Mediae Pylee on N. W. and the CaspisePylse 
on the N. E. The Plateaux of Iran and Asia Minor were watered chiefiy 
by artificial means, (Herod. I. 189, and III. 187 J which will account for 
their fertility, being now arid, owing to conquerors having turned the 
water-courses. 

The name Iran (Eerawn) is the same as the Greek Ariana, (which must 
be carefully distinguished from Aria, or Cabul.) The name used in the 
oldest Persian language (the Zend) is Eriene. It means the country of 
believers, and is much the same as the Sanskrit Arya (pure men,) by 
which the Indian Brahmins designate themselves in opposition to barba- 
rians, whom the Persians call ' Turanians.^ In the Persian quasi-Bible, 
(the Zendavesta of Zoroaster,) the word describes the aboriginal country 
of the Persians, along the chain of Beloo Bagh and Mu^ Dayhy on the 
borders of Bucharia. 



24 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY, 



Topography. 

If, as we are assured, Cyrus was buried at Parsagadae (the old town), 
and modern travellers find a building exactly corresponding with Strabo's 
account of the tomb, on the plains of Moorghaub, we must place the old 
city therey and not so far South as Arrowsmith has done. Chap. XXIV= 
But, in fact, the names Parsagadse and Persepolis seem to have been used 
in two senses ; i. e. — for the whole site of the several cities built within 
a radius of 20 miles in Coele-Persis ; or for the particular portions of that 
settlement. [So * Lacedsemon' is used in Homer. Buttmann's Lexilog. p. 
383.] And indeed no author uses the word Persepolis, before Alexander's 
time ; — and it probably was the Greek translation of ' Parsagadae', (as it 
ought to be written.) It was called the fMrjTponoXis, but was not central 
enough to be the residence of the kings after Cyrus' time ; though Darius 
and Xerxes had the chief hand in raising its buildings. It appears to 
deserve the name rather of a vast temple, than a political city. It was 
used more as the burial ground of the dead Kings, than the residence of 
the living, — though they were crowned and made pilgrimages there. It 
was the Mecca of the Persians, — and the King's tribe (the Achsemenidse) 
resided there. The ruins of the oldest period are called Chehl-Menar, 
(i. e. 40 Minarets,) and belong to the times of Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes, or 
even earlier. They are the ruins of the Royal Palace at Persepolis Proper^ 
and are upwards of 40 miles from Parsagadce Proper, which lies to the 
N. E. (not the S., as appears in the map.) According to the accurate 
descriptions of Sir R. Ker Porter, it would appear that Persepolis and 
Parsagadae in ArrowsmiWs map should change places. The Inscriptions 
on these ruins have lately been decyphered. They are all written in the 
old Persian character called ' arrow-head,' or ' wedge form.' They are in 
the three principal languages of the Persian Empire : — 1st. The Zend, (the 
priest's tongue :) — 2nd. The Pehlivi (spoken generally at Susa :) — 3rd. 
The Assyrian (an Aramaic dialect of the Semitic tribe, spoken at Baby- 
lon. ) The * arrow-head' was decyphered simultaneously hy different pro- 
cesses, by Grotefend at Vienna, and Saint-Martin at Paris ; and as an 
additional proof that we have hit upon the key to this and the Egyptian 
Hieroglyphics, Grotefend and Champollion (Led. Africa,) applied their 
methods respectively to an inscription on an Egyptian urn now at Paris, 
written in the arrow-head character and also in Hieroglyphics, — and each 
produced the same results. The later class of ruins are about 5 miles N. 
E. of Chehl Menar, and are the monuments of the Sassanidse, A. D. 250. 
(Arrowsmith, XXIV. Sect. 2.) 

The ruins of Susa, as being built of brick, like Babylon, and not of 
marble, like Persepolis, have nearly lost all traces of sculpture. It 
seems almost certain that the ruins of Shus on the R. Kerah, 45 miles 
West of Shuster, mark the site of Susa ; and we are not to look for them 
at Shuster (Arrowsmith, XXIV. 9 ;) where the ruins belong to a much 
later period than the Persian Empire, to which period those of Shus 
answer. 



LECTURE V. PERSIAN HISTORY. 



25 



Languages of Ancient Persia. 

The same great ranges of mountains, or rivers, formed the limits of dif- 
ferent kingdoms and languages. One speech prevailed almost entirely from 
the ^gean to the Halys R.; another from the Halysto the Tigris ; another 
from the Tigris to the Indus. The Cyrus and Araxes rivers, which flow 
from the W. by one mouth into the Caspian Sea, (and which must not be 
confounded with the little streams of Cyrus and Araxes, near Persepolis 
and Parsagadse, ) formed the great Northern boundary to the Indo-Euro- 
pean tongue in Asia. With regard to these languages, — 1st. All Asia 
Minor W. of the Halys fl., and N. of Lat. 38o N., spoke probably the 
ancient 'Phrygian, which was the same as the Thracian (cf. * Thyni ' and 
' Bithyni,'' in Class. Bid.) The part of Asia Minor, just S. of this Phry- 
gian race, spoke a language called C avian ; and the Greek colonies all 
along the W. coast and S. W. must be also excepted. 2ndly. All the peo- 
ple E. of Halys fl. as far as the Tigris, (with the exception of the Arme- 
nians) down to S. of Arabia, spoke different branches of the Semitic 
Tribe. — 3rdly. All the people, from the Tigris to the Indus, spoke some 
branch of the Indo-Eui'opean family. 

[The exceptions to these broad lines of distinction, which are found in 
the mountain fastnesses, will be treated of in the next Lecture.] 

With regard to the Persian tongues, — viz., the Zend, the Pehlivi, and 
Parsee, they admirably serve to illustrate the effects of time upon lan- 
guage ; for the Zend has as many inflexions as the Greek ; the Parsee as 
few as the Enghsh. The sacred Zend is very near akin to Sanskrit, (of 
the Brahmins ;) and this, together with the distinction of castes, com- 
manded by the Zenda-vesta, seems to point to the same origin of stock. 
The Pehlivi was the language of the court and some of the people, from 
the time of Cyrus, to the Mohammedan conquests. The name is supposed 
by Sir J. Malcolm to be derived from ' Pehleh', the ancient name of Ispha- 
han, Rha, and the countries near Assyria. Parsee (which is not synony- 
mous with modern Persia,) is more like the Zend than the Pehhvi ; but 
the present Persians have mixed up a number of Arabic and Pehhvi words. 

The Religion of Ancient Persia. 

This is contained in the Zenda-vesta (jive-lighter,^ composed by Zoroas- 
ter, and in great part taken from the Psalms of David. The notion, that 
Zoroaster hved in the time of Darius Hystaspes, rests on no better founda- 
tion than the similarity of the name to K. Gustasp, who is the person 
addressed in the Zenda-vesta. The book itself bears internal evidence of 
Uramiah, in the N. of Media, having been the author's native country, 
and of his having lived chiefly in Bactra, whence it spread to Iran. In 
the catalogue of the provinces of his native kingdom, he omits all mention 
of Persis and Susiana, which, if living in the time of, and addressing, 
Darius, he could not have done. No external testimony exists of his 



26 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY, 



having lived at that period, at least no cotemporary testimony, nor indeed 
any till 200 years afterwards. He probably Jived in the time of Cyaxares, 
the 1st. Median King, 100 years before Darius, (of whom, see Arrowsmith, 
XXII. 29.) He was the reformer, not the founder of the Magian Religion. 
His doctrine was that of the two principles, Ormuzd (the good,) Ahriman 
(the bad.) The chief object of worship was the *Sun' and the element 
of Fire, expressed on the temples by a golden ball. (Bulwers Athens, 1 . 
p. 52. note, and p. 54. note.) The Persian conquerors (the Achaemenidse) 
accepted this religion, with most of the other customs of the conquered 
Medes, (cf. Lect. Asia, Political Hist,) Herodotus, I. 140, shews that, 
previously, their customs differed. 

Constitution and History. 

The principle of the ancient (as well as modern) Persian Government 
was complete despotism, arising from their original patriarchal habits as 
wandering Nomads, and strengthened by the judicial power being vested 
in the same hands as the legislative and executive (Herod. I. 96. 97 ;) and 
still more so by polygamy. This too was the fruitful source of plots and 
conspiracies for the succession to the throne, (cf> *Parysatis,' 'Amestris,' 
* Statira/ *Iloxana,' Class. Diet.) The details of the education of the 
Royal family are given in Xenophor^s CyropcEdia ; and the book of Esther 
gives the fullest information on the domestic life of the Sovereign, (who 
was called al wvXai, just like the Turkish Porte.) We also learn thence. 
Chap. I. I. that there were 127 Provinces in the Empire, which Darius 
divided into 20 Satrapies. To prevent the Satraps from rising to inde- 
pendence, and rebelling, this civil office was separate from the military 
commandant ; and the alteration of that practice, e. g. in favour of 
Cyrus the Younger, (Scrip. Grceci, p. 91.) led the way to the internal 
dissolution of the Empire. (Cf. Class. Diet. ' Megabyzus' the 3rd.) For 
the same purpose, the ayyaprfiov, or courier-system, was instituted. (Herod. 
III. 128.) There is a striking resemblance between the administration of 
affairs under the Persian Empire, and Charlemagne's ; — viz. the secret coun- 
cil of *probi et pauci and the Missi Dominici of the latter correspond to 
the ayyaprfiov of the former. Cf. Guizot , Essai IV. sur V Histoire de la 
France. With regard to commerce, the Persians, especially Darius, (KaTTT/Aos-, 
Herod. III. 89, ) carried on a very extensive trade by land with Central 
and Eastern Asia, for instance, in gold especially and precious stones ; 
but they blocked up the connexion of the Euphrates and Persian Gulf for 
tear oi pirates. 

The * golden age' of Persian History was the reign of King Jemshid 
(Achsemenes) in Balkh. From his time to Cyrus we know nothing but 
that they were cruelly treated by the Medes, who had subjugated them. 
(Ezek.XTKll. V. 24.) They are called *Elam' in the Bible generally. 
The names of the Persian and Median Kings given in the Bible and Greek 
Historians are mere titles, not Proper Names. The name Cyrus in Pehlivi 
signifies ihe ' Sun\ in Hebrew it is written ' Koreish ; in Persian, 'Khosroo* 
The dynasty of Sassanidee are always Chosroes in Roman History. Darius 



LECTURE V. PERSIAN HISTORY. 



27 



is a title meaning ' King Daraschah being the Persian orthography. He- 
rodotus, VI. 98, explains the name to mean ip^eir)s, the restrainer ; Xerxes, 
ap^ios ; Artaxerxes, /xeyas aprjios ; (the Persian ' Arta' being the same word 
as the Greek Kapra.) ' Ahasuerus' means the same as ' Artaxerxes,' and 
consequently we find this title given to three different kings in the Bible : 
Ezra, lY. 6, to Cambyses — Ezra, VII. probably to Xerxes or his son — 
Ban. IX. 1, to Astyages, king of the Medes, and grandfather of Cyrus. 
The Darius of the book of Daniel was probably Cyaxares the 2nd, the 
uncle of Cyras. The yietories of Cyrus are very illustrative of the remarks 
(Led. * Asia,') on ' Pohtical History.' He overthrew three great King- 
doms, almost in one battle each. — Isaiah, (XLIV. v. 27. 28.) and Daniel, 
(VIIL z?. 3, 4 ; and 11. v. 39, ) had foretold, the former, his conquest of 
Babylon, and his restoration of the Jews ; the latter, his victory over the 
Medes, and universal Empire. Accordingly he conquered Astyages, the 
Mede, near Parsagadae, — and Croesus, the Lydian, near the Halys fl. B. C. 
548, — and took Babylon B. C. 538, by turning the Euphrates. He reigned 
7 years after the death of his uncle Cyaxares, and according to Xeno- 
phon's romance, the Cyropeedia, died peacefully ; according to Herodotus, 
and the Persian Chronicles, he died in battle vrith the Massagetse, but was 
buried at Parsagadse. 

For Cambyses, see Lect. 'Africa.' In estimating his character, as given 
by Herodotus, we must remember that Herodotus derived his information 
from the Egyptian priests, whom Cambyses had treated with great indig- 
nity. Plato traces the disorders of his and the following reigns to his 
having introduced the Median custom of entrusting the heir to the care of 
women and eunuchs. 

The usurpation of Smerdis (one of the Magi) was a conspiracy of the 
Medes to regain their sovereignty over the Persians. For the rest of the 
Kings, till Alexander's defeat of Darius Codomannus, — the dynasty of the 
Parthiaus, — of the Sassanidae, — and the modern History of Persia, see 
Arrowsmith, XXIV. Sect. 2. and 40. 



In the spring of 401 B. C. Cyrus the younger began his march from 
Sardis : S. E. across the Meeander to Colossae, up to Celsense at the source 
of the Meeander: N. E. to Peltee (a little S. W. of Ipsus m Phrygia,) 
passing by a place called Cerami Forum to Caystri Campus beyond Ipsus. 
The S. E. toTyriseum on the confines of Lycaonia, to Iconium, and Tyana, 
across the Pylse Cihciee to Tarsus. After 20 days, he goes E. over the 
Sarus and Pyramus to Issus : then along the sea coast S. across the K. 
Kersos, and the Syris Pylse to Myi'iandrus. Then S. W. across the 
Orontes to Chalos fl. and Daradax fl. which runs into the Euphrates : down 
along the Euphrates to Tliapsacus, where they forded it. The Southern 
part of Mesopotamia is caUed by Xenophon Arabia, being inhabited by the 
Arabes Scenitse. Cyrus, after crossing it, turns along its left bank South- 
wards, crosses the Mascas fl, to Coreote ; then along the Euphrates to 
Pylee, and Cunaxa, where the battle was fought, and Cyrus fell. The 
distance from Ephesus was more than 2000 miles. 

E 2 



28 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



As they left Ephesus seven months before the battle, their departure may 
be reckoned to be 

About the 
Left Sardis about 
Arrive at Celsense 

Caystrus 
■ Tarsus 

Myriandrus 
Ford the Euphrates at Thapsacus 
Reach the Pylse of the Median wall 
Battle of Cunaxa 

The Retreat of the Greeks, 

Under the pretended guidance and alliance of Tissaphernes, a Persian 
Satrap, the Greeks were led by Clearchus in an E. direction, across the 
Murus Mediae to Sitace, near the Tigris : crossed the bridge there, and 
marched up the river to Opis, and to the Zabatus, or Great Zab. The 
perfidy of Tissaphernes here, and his interview with the Grecian generals, 
Clearchus, Proxenus, Meno, Agias, and Socrates, their seizure and subse- 
quent murder, is an exact paralell to the history of ^hus Gallus' expe- 
dition in Arabia, during the reign of Cahgula (Cf. Lect. IV.) and the de- 
feat of Crassus in Parthia, (^(y. " Historical Par allelsy* vol, \. p. 204.) 
and Titurius Sabinus' history, in Caesar, (Bell. Gall. Lib. V. 37-) to 
which may be added the late disastrous events in Affghanistan, where 
Akbhar Khan played the part of Tissaphernes, and Sir W. Mc. Naghten 
and Sir A. Burnes were Clearchus and Proxenus. 

Hereupon Xenophon, being moved by a dream, offered to lead the army 
home, young as he was. 

The Greeks set off and crossed the Zabatus, halted at Larissa, (formerly 
Resen, Gen. X. 12.) on the banks of the Tigris, near Nineveh ; so into the 
country of Carduchii, to the R. Centrites, which they forded : then passed 
by the source of the Tigris to Teleboas fl.: here they defeated Teribazus 
the Persian Satrap, and had no further Persian obstructions, though 
occasionally harassed by barbarians. They next forded the Euphrates and 
came to the R. Phasis, (probably the Araxes) into the country of the 
Taochi, Chalybes, and Scythinians. As the army was ascending Mns. 
Theches, 40o 10' N. Lat. 40o 50' E. Long., they see the Ocean for the 
first time, (Robertson^ s Americay vol. II. ^. 123 ; Virg. JEn. III. 521.) 
and raised a pile of stones there. They reach the confluence of two rivers 
(Absarus and Glaucus) that divide the Scythini from the Macrones, and 
come to the sea coast at Trapezus, a colony of Sinope ; go by land to 
Cerasus (being in number 8600 men) and thence to Cotyora, where they 
embarked, and sailed to Sinope, Heraclea, Calpes Portus, whence they 
marched through Bithynia to Chrysopolis, and so over to Byzantium. 
Here the expedition may be said to end, for they mostly disbanded, or as- 
sisted Seuthes, K. of Thrace, and afterwards were employed against Persia 
again by Sparta. 

[N. B. This expedition laid open the weakness of the Persian Empire, 
and the result, a century later, was Alexander's invasion and Conquest.] 



7th February (B. C. 401.) 

6th March 

20th March 

1st May 

6th June 

6th July 

5th August 

1st September 

Jth 



LECTURE V. — ] 



PERSIAN HISTORY. 



29 



Arrive at Sitace 
Massacre at Zabatus 
Ascend Carduchian Mts. 
Cross Eastern Euphrates 
Arrive at Absarus fl. 



11th October 

29th 

20th November 
13th December 
19th January 
13th February 
13th April 



(B. C. 401.) 



(B. C. 400.) 



Trebisonde 
- Cotyora 



The whole of the way, both of the Expedition and the Retreat, com- 
prised 215 days marching, and the distance was 1155 parasangs (Persic^), 
i, e. 34,650 stadia (Grsec^), or 3465 Geographical miles (Anglice), and 
the time employed was about a year and 3 months. 

For the exact site and modern names of the places mentioned, see ^AinS' 
wortlCs Travels in the Track of the 1 0,000 Greeks.^ 



[Arrowsmith's Large Map with Ancient names and Modem references, — all places 
mentioned in the preceding accounts. — Cyrus the Younger's March shown by a Red 
line ; the Retreat of the Greeks by a Yellow. ] 



LECTURE VI. 

THE GRECIAN EMPIRE. 



Geography. 

Greece is distinguished among European countries by the same charac- 
ter that distinguishes Europe from the other Continents, — m>. the great 
extent of sea-coast ; so that though the area of the whole country is a 
third less than Portugal, its sea-board exceeds that of Spain and Portugal 
put together. — The other remarkable feature of Hellas is, the distribution 
of its numerous mountains, which inclose large basins, or circular hollows, 
like a honey -comb. Tradition, confirmed by geology, will assist us to- 
wards accounting for the physical configuration of Greece. The several 
legends of Neptune's contests with Minerva, for Athens (see Wachsmuth, 
vol. 1. init.) and Trsezen, — with Juno, for Argos, — with Apollo, for 
Corinth ; — the accounts of Delos, Anaphe, Rhodes, and Cyprus, coming 
up from the deep ; — of the great convulsion that opened the channels of 
the Bosporus and Hellespont ; of there having formerly been a land called 
Lectonia, where the Cyclades and Sporades now lie about Hke fragments : 
— all these legends point to geological facts, such as * that on the South, 

* the Great Sahara of Africa is the upheaved bed of an ocean, whose waters, 

* retiring Northwards, have indented the Southern Coast of Europe, and 

* turned a continent into the jSJgean ; and that the waters of Central Asia 
*have left the Euxine as their reservoir, the current of which is felt N. of 

* Euboea in the Maliacus Sinus ; and again, that Greece lies exactly in a 

* Volcanic Zone, which extends from the Caspian to the Azores, and be- 
' tween the 45th and 35th degrees of N, Latitude. (Ovid. Met. Lib. XV. 
260 to 295 ; and JBidwer's Athens, 1. j>. 49.) 

Though there are no traces of craters, such as were described in Asia 
Minor (Lect. 5,) yet the hot springs of Thermopylae and Trsezen bear wit- 
ness to volcanic agency ; and not long before the Christian era, a new hill 
was thrown up on the coast, near Trsezen. Most of the basins or hollow 
districts of Greece seem to have been originally beds of the sea : some 
terminate at the coast, as if formed by the retiring waters, such as Athens, 
Argos, Laconia, Messenia, and Elis. Others, such as Boeotia and Arcadia, 
are completely surrounded by a rampart of mountains, except at one point, 
where the waters of the valleys have made themselves an outlet. The lake 
of Topolias occupies the bottom of the western division of Bceotia, and re- 
ceiving all the waters of the district, sends them off by (Catabothra) sub- 



LECTURE VI. GRECIAN HISTORY. 



31 



terranean canals to the sea on the N. E. The Peloponnesus has only one 
lake (Stymphalusj now called Zaracca, in Arcadia,) which also is supposed 
to have subterranean communication with the river Erasinus in Argohs. 
Most of the waters of the elevated central Plateaux of Arcadia are carried 
off by the channel of the Rouphia. 

The Physical Geography of Greece has had a remarkable influence on 
the character and history of the people. Fiy^st, — The country is marked 
out by these basins into districts almost unconnected with each other, and 
calculated to become the seats of smaU communities and states, such as we 
find was the case originally in Greece, (like Italy in this respect.) More- 
over Thessaly, Northern Greece, and the Peloponnese, were separated from 
each other in such a way, and the passes of Thermopylae and Corinth so 
easily defended, that it was very difficult for one division to gain a supre- 
macy over the other. Secondly, — The extent of the sea- board, and the vi- 
cinity to Italy, Egypt, Phoenicia, and Asia Minor, made it cultivate a 
commercial and maritime power, while its rich valleys fitted it for agricul- 
ture and pasturage. (In these respects we are reminded of England.) 
Thirdly, — Its happy combination of sea and moimtain served to make it 
the cradle of a bold and free people.* The climate (Ho-rreros aWrjp, Horn. 
Kap-TvpoTaTos, Euvip.) had a powerful influence on the Grecian character 
both in body and mind. (Guesses at Truth, p. 51, and H. N. Coleridge's 
Introd. to the Class. Poets, Chap. I.) 

Topography. 

Athens lies in a wide plain, enclosed by mountains, except on the 
South- West, where it is bounded by the sea. In the middle of the plain, 
there rise several rocks, on the largest of which (150 feet high, 900 long, 
and 490 broad,) lying from E. to W., stood the Acropolis. It is inacces- 
sible on all sides but the West ; there the entrance is called the Propy- 
laea, within which are the Minerva Polias on the left, and the Parthenon 
on the right. Immediately to the west of this rock is a valley, and then 
the Areopagus, a lower and smaller rock. On the S. W. of the Areopa- 
gus is a valley, in which was the old agora ; and below that again, the 
Pnyx, where the assemblies were held, the ^rjfia of wliich, hewn in the 
rock, still remains. The new agora was N. of the Areopagus. 

Sparta was built in detached villages, and there is a great doubt now 
about its site. It was not Mistra, but most probably Magoula. 

Mycence stood on the N. of the Gulf of Nauplia, probably where Kra- 
bata now is. The Pelasgic ruins of the citadel stiU exist, and of the trea- 
sury of Atreus, (or * Agamemnon's Tomb,') much older than the Cyclo - 
pian. 

Argos took and destroyed Mycense, B. C. 468 ; and thenceforth the 
history of the latter was merged in that of the former. Ruins of the 



* T\vo voices are there : one is of the Sea, 
One of the Mountains : each a mighty voice : 
In both from age to age Thou didst rejoice ; 
They are Thy chosen ISIusic, Libert\\ 

WoKDSWORTH. 



32 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



Hereeum, or Temple of Juno, are still traceable at Argos. But the most 
ancient remains of military architecture are what are generally called the 
* Cyclopian walls' of Tiryns, on the N. E. of the Gulf of Nauplia, not the 
same as Pelasgic. (Bulwer, I. p. 11. note; Elmsl. Heradidce, 188. Herod, 
IX. 27.) 

Elis was the Holy Land of Greece, in consequence of the games being 
celebrated every 5tli year at Olympia, the country (not a city) round Pisa. 

Arcadia corresponds very much with Switzerland, in the character of 
its appearance and people, — ^the effect of mountain without sea. In the 
Sicilian expedition, according to Thucydides, we find Arcadians serving in 
both armies ; just as the Swiss have long been the mercenaries of Euro- 
pean States. Lycosura was the first walled city of Greece. 

The Human Race of Greece, 

The greatest uncertainty exists with regard to all that relates to the 
ancient inhabitants of Greece. It would appear that the original people 
were descendants of Japheth, — Javan, his son, — Elishah and Dodanim, 
his grandsons. — {Arrowsmith^ Chap. XVI. 2, gives traces of these names.) 
These people were called in later ages (in Homer's and Hesiod's time) 
Leleges, Caucones, Aones, and are spoken of as having been cotemporary 
with Deucalion, i. e. with the flood. {Cramer* s Greece^ vol. \. p. 8. 
note.) 

The next people were the Pelasgi, of whom the most apparently con- 
tradictory accounts are given by Hecatseus, Herodotus, Dionysius, Strabo, 
and various ancient authors ; — such as, that they were cruel and barbarous, 
— ^noble and refined, — a fixed nation, as opposed to the Hellenes {Herod.), — 
never quiet, and so named therefore from ireXapyos, a stork, (Dionys. ); — that 
they built cities and prospered {Herod.) — just the contrary {Dionys.) — Ho- 
mer calls them Slot, — Herodotus says that they were soon slaves of theHel- 
lenes. All agree that they disappeared from Greece, Italy, and Asia, about 
the time of the Trojan war. Probably it would be nearly right to say, that 
all these conflicting accounts were true, — but that the Pelasgi do not mean 
any one people, (any more than the common name of Frank used by the 
Eastern nations when speaking of Europeans,) but many different invaders, 
between the periods of 1800 B. C. and 1200 B. C. (Bulwer, 1. 26.) 

No less discrepancy exists between the several accounts of the parts 
whence these Pelasgi came :~some saying from N., some from S.; some 
making the Peloponnese, and some Thessaly, their first settlement. Again, 
most probably both refer to different races, all of whom were called Pe- 
lasgi, which, if a Greek word, probably means TreXaytot {sea-men); if (as is 
more probable) an Egyptian word, means the same as Hykshos, ^* wan- 
dering strangers.** (Thirlwall, 1. p. 73.) 

Danaus, the brother of Egyptus, conquered Argos 1493 B. G. This 
Danaus is probably the same as Phoroneus, the brother of Sesostris, whom 
the Greeks called Egyptus. {Lect. Africa ; Bulwer, \. p. 15. 16.) — Sesos- 
tris led an army as far as Thrace, and left a colony there, who under 
Eumolpus migrated afterwards to Athens ; and so both statements of the 



LECTURE VI.— 'GRECIAN EMPIRE. 



33 



Northern and Southern origin of the Pelasgi may be true. Most of these 
invaders were probably Asiatics, many of whom at different times invaded 
and settled in Egypt, and were expelled again. Most of their customs 
betoken an Asiatic origin, and their religion an Egyptian. {Coleridge, 
Introd. Class. Poets, p. 177, ^c. and Bulwer, I. 18.) Their oracles were 
distinctly connected with Egypt. The name of the Pelasgian forts was 
always Larissa (there were thirteen, even in Strabo's time.) Bochart {Cf. 
Classical Museum, p. 306.) says this is the Greek way of pronouncing the 
oriental words "of Resen," a great city on the Tigris. — fGen. X. 12. 
Arrowsmith, XXII. 29.) We know little about the Hellenes, except that 
they conquered the Pelasgi. They evidently came from the neighbourhood 
of Dodona, and probably were the Helli (or Selli,) the priests of that 
oracle. {Bulwer, I. p. 2. note.) H. and S. are convertible Sibilants in 
Sanscrit. Sometimes it is said of them, that they were Pelasgi. {Her- 
mann, Polit. Ant. Sect. 8.) They were probably the priest-caste of the 
Pelasgi, who gradually established a superiority over the others, e. g. at 
Athens ; but we don't know when. The history of Ion a-Tpardpxns {Herod. 
VIII. 44.) establishing a new dynasty there, would lead rather to a con- 
clusion that the Pelasgians (or lonians) regained their supremacy over the 
Hellenes, or priest- caste : for Poseidon, the Ionian God, destroyed the 
preceding dynasty of Erechtheus, and set up Ion. {Eurip. Ion, 284.) 
Perhaps to this may be ascribed in part the remarkable disappearance 
of all caste in Greece, and the allotting of the priesthood, or the giving it 
to certain families, such as the Eumolpidae ; in this resembling the Jews, 
rather than the Egyptians. (See Bulwer, I. p. 43.) 

Languages, 

Herodotus calls the Pelasgians ^apl3ap6(pcovoi, and says he could not 
understand them. This word does not mean that they spoke a different 
language, but a different dialect, which the later Greeks could not under- 
stand. It is agreejd on aU hands that Arcadia never changed its Pelasgic 
population, and they spoke what is called JEolic Greek. Greek is 
undoubtedly of the Indo-European Tribe. Miiller (Literal, of Ancient 
Greece) says of it, that it bears strong marks of being the wreck of a 
great and regular language, which existed before Homer's time. {Donald- 
son's Cratijlus.) The order and character of the letters is almost the same 
as the Hebrew. Old inscriptions show the modifications of the Hebrew 
character, as it passed into Greek, and were often written from right to 
left, hke Hebrew. The mother tongue of the present Albanians was un- 
doubtedly spoken in its present localities in the earliest times. This and 
the Illyrian district are not Greek, but yet are Indo-European. 

[Ah the rest of Alexander's Grecian Empire has already been described 
Ethnographically in other Maps, except India, and the mountain fastnesses, 
(alluded to Zec^. 6.) The numerous dialects of Hindustan may be redu- 
ced to two heads : — One, the Sanscrit ; — the other, Tamul, spoken in the 
South more particularly. The Sanscrit was the ancient language. The 
intermediate form was the Prakrit. The modern vernacular dialects are 

F 



34 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



all derived from these ; — but bear more resemblance to the Prakrit than 
Sanscrit. The sacred dialect of the Buddists is called Pali. The other 
language, the Tamul, or an old form of it, was probably the mother tongue 
of Aboriginal India. The Indo-European Hindoo drove it from the 
North to the South of India, between lO^ and 15°, the N. of Ceylon, and 
left it in a few isolated fastnesses in the N. of India. Prof. Rask (of Co- 
penhagen) conceived that he had found affinities between the Tamul, the 
Basque, and the Finlandic ; and argued, that previous to the distribution 
and invasions of the Great Indo-European Tribe, another and weaker race 
was generally spread, which now exists in fragments only fin the N. and 
S. extremities, and in mountain fastnesses. So we find the British in 
Wales, — the Samoedi in Tobolsk, — the numerous Tribes about Caucasus, 
one of which, the Ossetes, are Indo-European,^ — the Pindenissian bandits 
of the Taurus. (Cic. Attic. Y. 20.) No doubt there were such Indo- 
European invasions from time to time ; — e. g. we read of the Northern 
Scythians ravaging Media for 28 successive years, just at the time the 
predicted eclipse took place, when the Medians and Lydians were fighting.] 



Constitutional History of Athens and Sparta, 

Dr. Arnold's characteristic and valuable Appendix 1. to his 1st vol. of 
Thucydides, describes the natural periods or divisions in the history of 
nations. In the infancy of a people we shall generally find the monarchi- 
cal principle predominate — as may be seen in the Homeric Monarchies, in 
the European Dynasties after the barbarian Invasions, &c. Youth breaks 
out into Oligarchies and feudal Aristocracies of birth. Middle age ex- 
hibits the wordly-minded principle of money in the ascendant ; and an 
aristocracy of birth degenerates into a timocracy of wealth. The con- 
cluding stages are generally democracy, passing into an ochlocracy, and 
ending in a military despotism. (See Lect. XI. end.) Applying this for- 
mula to the Constitutional History of Athens, we find at first a Monarchy, 
and apparently a system of Castes, as if derived from Egypt, the reXeovres 
(Priests) , the ImreTs, (warriors), the alyiKopeU (shepherds), and epyaSeis, 
(mechanics.) — The gradual rise of the feudal aristocracy would appear in 
the change of names — the Castes giving way to Kpavais, "At6is, Mea-oyaia, 
AiaKpa, KeKpoTTis, Avtox6(>>v, &c. and this aristocratic principle would seem 
to have triumphed after Codrus' death, B. C. 1044. The common story 
about no man deserving the name of king after him, was evidently a mere 
pretext. Solon B. C. 594, and Clisthenes B. C. 508, represent the Timo- 
cratic era, when the former arranged the Classes according to their pro- 
perty. When Anacharsis said to Solon, " that he was surprised at the 
right of deciding upon the most important matters being entrusted to 
persons incapable of forming a sound judgment," Solon rephed, " I 
have not given the Athenians the best laws possible, but the best they 
can bear." [Ferrand, Esprit de V Histoire.] 

The Democratic leaven began to show itself first, when the law was 
abolished, just after the battle of Platsea, which excluded the erjres from 



LECTURE VI. GRECIAN EMPIRE. 



35 



the magistracies, B. C. 479. But Pericles, B. C. 450, marks the time of its 
acm^, and the transition into an ochlocracy was consummated in the per- 
son of Cleon, B.C. 425. 

The Judicial changes of Athens strongly mark the progress of Consti- 
tutional descent. The original judges were called Ephetce. These seem 
to belong to the Monarchical Period. The Aristocratic and Timocratic 
systems developed the Areopagus, which Pericles the Democrat annihi- 
lated, and established in their stead the Hehsea, — courts where 6000 citi- 
zens, totally unfit for the office, sat in judgment, receiving each 2 obols 
per diem. {See Aristophanis Fespce.) 

Moreover the Statesman's ofiice underwent great changes in the 5th 
and 4th Centuries B. C. Themistocles represents the first Period, when 
the same person was General and Statesman, but more of the former than 
the latter. 

Pericles represents the 2nd Epoch, when both the characters were still 
vested in one person, but he was more of a Statesman than a General. 

Demosthenes represents the 3rd Period, when the offices were distinct. 

So in EngHsh History, the Plantagenet Kings were more Warriors than 
Civil Rulers. The Tudors and Stuarts were more of Civil Rulers than 
Generals, but yet led their armies to battle. Very nearly ever since the 
accession of the House of Hanover, the Sovereign has not been the Gene- 
ral, but a Constitutional Ruler. (See Heeren^s Political History of Greece, 
especially his deserved panegyric of Demosthenes.) Philip of Macedon 
after the battle of Cheeronsea, B. C. 338, and Alexander the Great estab- 
lished the military Despotism, B. C. 330. 

Sparta's career was very different. Lycurgus' Constitution was some- 
thing like one of the great European monastico-military orders in the time 
of the Crusades, but it lacked their principle of action and government. 
Lycurgus' great mistake was in fancying that the best way to diminish the 
corruption of a civilized nation was to barbarize it. The experiment was 
an utter failure ; for after the Spartans had once tasted the luxuries of 
Persia, Athens, and Thebes, by conquest, the dissolute corruption of the 
ruling tribes exceeded anything ever heard of. Xenophon, for instance, 
tells us that the victorious troops in Corcyra would drink none but per- 
fumed wines. Lysander's words, "We deceive children with sweetmeats, 
and men with oaths," show the moral degradation of his times. The 
Spartans pillaged the temples at Elis, Eleusis, and Argos': their name was 
struck out of the Amphictyonic council. Alexander the Great said to 
Darius, " You have sent emissaries to bribe all the nations of Greece, and 
have only succeeded with Sparta." 

The Dorian migration, or return of the Heraclidae, has often been com- 
pared to the Norman conquest of England, in an historical point of view ; 
but, in a constitutional one, it was much more hke our Revolution of 
1688; for in each country the monarchical power then underwent its 
great change from a reality to a Constitutional form. The Ephors (like the 
Council of Ten at Venice,) were the real government. [For their origin 
and eventual bent, see Led, X. on the Frank M aires du Palais.'] Cleo- 
menes kiUed them in his time, and got possession of the Government, was 
defeated by Antipater, fled to Egypt, and was gibbeted there. Upon his 

f2 



36 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



death, Sparta set up her throne for auction, and (strange niockery ! that 
reminds one of the last Roman Emperor, Romulus' Augustulus, Led. 
VIII. end^ a man named Lycurgus bought it. It was a man named 
Nabis (the Robespierre of his day,) that exterminated the Dorian race, and 
was then assassinated by his own brigands. The Achsean League drove 
them out, and Sparta soon fell under Rome. 

The Achaean League of twelve small towns, led by Aratus, ought merely 
to have been a defensive one. But they took up an offensive line. The 
Macedonians oppressed them. They joined Rome against Macedon, and 
then Rome destroyed them. Compare the Federal unions of modern 
times, Switzerland and Holland. What Macedonia was to the Achseans, 
that Austria was to Switzerland, and Spain to Holland. After the council 
of Constance the Swiss were ruining themselves by acting on the offensive, 
but saw their error. And so Holland did well, till they assumed the 
offensive against Louis XIV. 

History. 

Thucydides, Lib. L init. says, that the Trojan war first gave the idea of 
combination and union to the isolated Greek states, but more properly we 
might say that it was the Persian war. The first great effort for universal Empire 
was made by the Athenians in the Sicilian expedition. {Thucyd. VI. 90.) 
Had that expedition proved successful, Greeece, and not Rome, might have 
conquered Carthage ; Greek, instead of Latin, might have been the principal 
element in modern languages of Europe ; and the laws of Athens, rather 
than Rome, the foundation of the code of the civihzed world. (Arnold'' s 
Rome, I. p. 395.) The Grecian Empire was not established till Alexan- 
der's time, B. C. 331, by his victories over Darius. He was, apparently, 
(Ban. VIII. 9. B.C. 301.) *'that he goat that waxed very strong; and 
" when he was strong, the great horn was broken : and for it came up four 
"notable ones, towards the four winds of heaven," — (Ptolemy in Egypt, 
■ — Seleucus in Syria, — Lysimachus in Asia Minor and Thrace, — Cassander 
in Greece, after the famous battle of Ipsus.) 

Some of the most important events in Grecian History, with their dates, 
are subjoined : 

The Trojan war ended 
The Dorian migration took place 
The last and greatest iEolian migration to Asia \ 
Minor, in consequence of the Dorian j 
The Ionian migration of Neleus, &c. to Asia Minor 
Legislation of Lycurgus for Sparta 



B. C. B. C. 

1184 904* 

1104 824 

1100 820 

1044 794 

884 708 



First Messenian war (of 20 years) ended . , 723 652 

Second (of 17 years) .. 668 607 

Legislation of Solon for Athens . . 594 562 

Constitution of Clisthenes . , . . 508 



* The second cohimn gives Sir I. Newton's Chronology. His system and the common one meet 
at B. C. 538, 'the taking of Babylon. 



LECTURE VI. — GRECIAN EMPIRE. 



37 



B. C. 

Burning of Sardis by Athenians . . . . 499 

Battle of Marathon . . . . 490 

Battles of Thermopylae and Salamis . . \ 

Carthaginians defeated by Gelo at Himera . . J 

Mardonius left in Greece .. "1 479 

Battle of Platsea and Mycale . . • • J 

Pausanias K. of Sparta put to death — Athenian Supre- "1 ^^j. 

macy — Aristides 'EAKrivorafiias . . . . J 

Themistocles' Exile — Journey to Persia, and death 471 
Battle of Eurymedon — end of Persian war .. 4 66 

Earthquake at Sparta — 3rd Messenian war of 9 years "j 

— Siege of Ithome — Helots settled by the Athenians V 464 
at Naup actus . . J 

Pericles' first appearance — Cimon's banishment — \ 
Areopagus depressed — Democracy prevailing J 
Athenian expedition to Egypt — war of 5 years, in which 1 
they were defeated, began . . J 

Megara revolts to Athens — War with Peloponnesians 458 
Athenians in JEgina and Egypt, when Myronides and \ .-^ 

the old men defeated the Peloponnesians at Megara J 
Spartan expedition to Doris ; on their return defeated "1 , _ ^ 

the Athenians at Tanagra . . J 

Spartans defeated by the Athenians, under Myronides, 1 

at^nophytse ^ ^bb 

^gina submitted to Athens . . , . 454 

Cimon recalled, and a coalition formed . . . . 453 

Five years Truce with Peloponnesians . . . . 450 

Athenians defeated at Coronaea by Boeotians . . 447 

Euboea revolted — Pericles marched there; but Megara 
revolting, he returned and defeated them. Pelopon- 
nesians under Pleistoanax, K. of Sparta, invaded At- 
tica ; bribed by Pericles with 10,000 talents to re- )■ 445 
turn. Pericles then marched to Euboea, reduced it, 
made 30 years truce with Sparta, having lost Boeotia, 
Megara, Nissea, Pegse. 



Peloponnesian War. 



Affairs of Epidamnus, Corcyra, &c. 
Revolt of Potidsea 

Theban attempt on Potidsea — Archidamus, with 60,000 
men, invades Attica — Athenians with 150 ships rav- 
age Peloponnesians — Funeral oration of Pericles 

Plague at Athens 

Siege of Platsea and death of Pericles 
Corcyrean sedition 
Spartans in Sphacteria — make proposals for peace- 

Cleon reduces them 
Brasidas' expedition to Thrace 
Thucydides' exile 
One year's Truce 
Death of Brasidas and Cleon 
Alcibiades appears 

Melian Conference — Bloody execution 
Sicilian expedition — and Athenian victory at Syracuse 
— Alcibiades exile. 



435 
432 

431 

430 
429 
427 

425 

424 

423 
422 
420 
416 

415 



38 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



B. C. 

Death of Lamachus, and arrival of Gylippus . . 414 
Occupation of Decelea — Demosthenes sent to Sicily, "I 

defeated, and with Nicias executed .. j 

Oligarchical parties of Pisanderand Theramenes defeated"] 

by Thrasyllus and Thrasybulus— Alcibiades recalled > 411 

— Thucydides' History ends — Xenophon's begins J 
Spartan overtures for peace, defeated by Cleoph on 410 
Battle of Notium — Alcibiades deposed .. 407 

Battle of Arginusse — Generals put to death . . "1 . „ „ 

Spartan overtures for peace . . . . J 

Battle of ^gos Potamos, where Lysander defeats the 1 

Athenians .. .. .. / 

Surrender of Athens — end of Peloponnesian war . . 404 



Establishment of Thirty Tyrants — Dissensions between ^ 

Critias and Theramenes, ending in the latter's death J» 404 
— Alcibiades' death . . • • J 

Thrasybulus in Piraeus deposes the Thirty Tyrants 403 



Battle of Cunaxa . . . . . . 401 

Battle of Cnidus, (regeneration of Athens) . . 394 

Battle of Leuctra T rrt,^u„^ „ „. 371 

Battle of Mantinea } ^^^^^^ supremacy ^ ^ 



Birth of Alexander the Great . . . . 356 

Supremacy of Philip, by the battle of Chseronea . . 338 

Philip's assassination, and accession of Alexander 336 

Battle of Granicus . . . . 334 

Battle of Issus . . . . . . 333 

Battle of Arbela (properly Gaugamela) . . 331 

Battle of the Hydaspes and defeat of Porus . . 326 

Death of Alexander . . . . 323 

Battle of Cynoscephalae .. .. 197 

Battle of Pydna 1 .. 

Subjugation of Greece to Rome j 



Arrowsmith's Large Map. Asia with ancient names and modern references of all 
the places Alexander entered in his Ten Asiatic Campaigns, from B. C. 334 to B. C. 
323. The line of his March to be painted, each campaign marked with a different 

colour. 



LECTURE VI. GRECIAN EMPIRE. 



39 



First Campaign^ B. C. 334. Age, 22. 

j Alexander starting from Sestos to Abydos, went to Ilium, N. by Lamp- 
I sacus, to the R. Granicus, and after the battle to Zeleia : then back to 
I Ilium, S. to Antandrus, Adramyttium, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Ephe- 
jj sus, Miletus, Halicarnassus, Telmissus, Patara, Xanthus, Pinara ; N. 
li towards Milyas, to Termessus ; S. to Phaselis, along the sea-shore under 
Mt. Climax, to Perga, Aspendus, Side, SilKum, up the R. Oestrus ; crossed 
the Taurus during winter up to Celsense, and Gordium in Phrygia. 

Second Campaign, B. C. 333. 

From Gordium, S. to Ancyra, Tyana, across the Pylae Cilicise to Tarsus, 
Mallus, Issus : after the battle, S. to Aradus, Byblus, Sidon, Tyre. 

TJiird Campaign, B. C. 332. 

After a siege of 7 months. Tyre being taken, he goes S. to Gaza and 
Jerusalem ; then into Egypt to Pelusium, Heliopohs, Memphis, down the 
Canopic branch of the Nile, to the L. Mareotis (the site of Alexandria); 
along the Coast W. to Parsetonium ; S. to the Oasis of Ammon ; E. across 
the Desert to Memphis. 

Fourth Campaign, B. C. 331. 

From Memphis to Tyre, Damascus, Thapsacus (crossing the Euphrates,) 
Nicephorium, Charree, Nisibis ; across the Tigris, a little N. of Nineveh ; 
to Gaugamela and Arbela : after the battle, S. to Memmis, and Babylon ; 
E. to Susa ; skirting down the W. of Mts. Cambalidus over the Pylse 
Persicse to PersepoHs (which he burnt,) and FarsagadcB Proper. 

Fifth Campaign, B.C. 330. 

From Persepolis, N. to Ecbatana, Rhagse, Caspise Pylee, Hecatompylon ; 
W. against the Mardi ; to Zadracarta, E. to Susia and Artacoana : thence 
S. down to the R. Aria in Drangiana, to Propthasia ; then turning up the 
R. Erymander, to Ortospana ; up the Paropamisus, where he founded 
another Alexandria, on the Erymander (33° 38' N. Lat.) not very far 
from Cabul. 

Sixth Campaign, B. C. 329. 

From Alexandria, N. across the Paropamisus to Bactra : over Oxus to 
Maracanda and CyropoKs in Sogdiana, as far as Alexandria Ultima ; back 
W. to Maracanda, Polytimetus R., Trybactra, across the Oxus to Bactra 
(where he killed Clitus.) 



40 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



Seventh Campaign^ B. C. 328. 

"Was occupied in quelling insurrections in Sogdiana : need not be marked 
on the Map. 

Eighth Campaign, B. C. 327. 

Westwards out of Sogdiana to Margiana over tlie R. Epardus, and the 
Ochus, to Kelat probably ; and back E. to Bactra ; across the Paropami- 
sus near Cabul, over the Choes up the River Indus : took Massaga, Aor- 
nos, and made peace with Nysa. 

Ninth Campaign, B. C. 326. 

He crosses the Indus to Taxila ; S. over the Hydaspes ; defeats Porus, 
building Nicsea on the left, and Bucephala on the right bank : crosses the 
R. Acesines, and Hydraotes, as far as to Sangala. Troops there refuse to 
cross the Hyphasis ; returns across the Hydraotes and Acesines, and sails 
down the Hydaspes as far as the junction of the Acesines. 

Tenth Campaign, B.C. 325. 

He sails down the R. Acesines into the Indus, as far as its Delta : mar- 
ches W. along the coast as far as 60° E. Lat ; then N. up to Pura, and 
Kermania ; there he is joined by Nearchus the Admiral, who had sailed 
along the coast from the Mouth of the Indus to Harmozia : Alexander 
marches to Parsagadse, sails down the Pasitigris, up the Tigris, as far as 
Opis ; thence to Susa, to Ecbatana, back to Babylon, where he dies. Mi. 
33. B. C. 323. (Williams' Life of Alexander^ Family Library, vol. III. 
for remarks upon the Character of Alexander. His career has been fully 
weighed in Montesquieu, Esprit des Lois.) 

See Sir H. Halford's Essays^ x. 164. — He gives at length, from Arrian^ 
Lib. VII. an account of Alexander's sickness and death ; and vindicates 
his memory from the imputation of habitual intemperance, and especially 
from the reproach of owing his death to a drunken debauch. Alexander 
died of a remittent fever, which he caught in the marshes of Babylon. 
He died on the 12th day. The bulletins of his health (the earliest on re- 
cord) are given by Arrian and Plutarch, the latter taking them from the 
Diary of Eumenes. 



[Note. Bulwer's work on the Athenians having been occasionally referred to in this Lecture, 
whereas his authority as an accurate Historian is much called in question, it may be as well to say, 
that this Lecture was written before Ms work was seen by the Author, and he is only quoted to con- 
firm already-formed opinions.} 



LECTURE VII. 



ROMAN EMPIRE, (1st Part.) 



Geography of Italy, 

There is something very remarkable in the physical geography of Italy. 
Speaking generally, Italy (like Greece) is made up of numerous valleys 
pent in between high hills, each forming a country and political commu- 
nity to itself. Observe in the first place, how the Apennine line runs from 
the S. extremity of the Alps, across Italy, to the edge of the Adriatic, and 
thus separates Italy Proper from Cisalpine Gaul. Between them and the 
Alpine semicircle, which forms the Northern boundary, is enclosed a wide 
plain, open only on the East to the sea. One great river flows through 
its whole extent, being fed from N. and S. by numberless streams. Of 
course this well-watered plain was filled with flourishing cities, and often 
contended for by successive invaders. Descending into Italy Proper, we 
find its geography accord with its political divisions. It is not one simple 
ridge of mountains, leaving a broad belt of level country on either side, but, 
as it were, a back-bone, thickly set with diverging spines of unequal length 
running out from the main ridge, some parallel to the back-bone itself ; in 
which latter case, the interval between their base and the Mediterranean 
has been broken up by volcanic agency ; e. g. Vesuvius, and the Alban 
hills, 10 miles from Rome. {Arnold's Lectures on Modern History.) For 
Napoleon's sketch and opinions about Italy, see Michelet, vol. I. appendix. 

Geography of Sicily. 

The heart and kernel of Sicily is Mount Etna, from which a chain of 
mountains stretches along the coast towards the Apennines ; for the range 
of mountains in S. Italy belongs geologically to Sicily. The mountains 
from ^tna to Messana run often so close to the shore, that there is hardly 
a small road between them and the sea. S. of J^tna the mountain leaves 
a considerable plain towards the sea, especially about Leontini. In the 
S. of Sicily, between Syracuse and the W., there are only low hills ; W. 
of .ZEtna, there run chains called Hereei and Nebrodes. From Pelorus to 
Himera they run close by the sea-shore. To the \V. of Himera there is a 
small extent of flat coast, and the mountains become gradually lower : about 
Palermo they form a plain, out of which there rises one hill. Further 



42 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



W. the mountains rise again, e.g. S. Julian. The S. W. portion, as far as 
Agrigentum, is mostly a fiat coast ; and further E. from Agrigentum the 
mountains are some way from the coast ; so that if we imagine a line drawn 
from Agrigentum to Catana, ail the S. of that line is a perfect plain. It 
is necessary to understand this physical structure of Sicily, in order to 
have a clear view of the operations of the First Punic War. Modern 
Sicily is divided into three districts. All that lies W. of HoE.^^Long. is called 
Val di Mazzara. All that lies E. of 14" Long, and N. of 37'' SCKLat. is called 
Val di Mone — the rest Val di Noto. On the present appearance of Sicily, 
especially with reference to the ruins, the letters of M. le Baron Th. de 
Buissuere, — Voyage en Siciley are most instructive, "On y verra des 
vestiges de toutes les ^poques : on passera des informes constructions 
Cyclop^enes et Phenici6nnes aux temples Doriques, ^lev^s par les colo- 
nies Greques, aux ar^nes des Romains, aux castels Mauresques, aux 
chapelles des Normands, et aux sombres donjons de la Feodalit^." 

Topography of Rome, 

Rome stands on the left bank of the Tiber, (about 17 miles from the 
sea,) just after it has been joined by the Anio. Four of the hills on which 
Rome is built are insulated heights, divided by little valleys : these are the 
Capitoline, Palatine, Cselius, and Aventine. The others (Quirinal, Vimi- 
nal, and Esquiline,) are promontories, jutting out towards the Tiber, from 
one long range. The two smallest, the Capitoline and Palatine, present 
the boldest outlines, standing as they do close to the river. The former 
was so precipitous, that it was a natural fortress, and became the citadel 
of Rome. (See ArrowsmW s Map of Rome, p. 245 of his * Geography.") 

Ethnography of Italy » 

If we consider the Ligurians and Veneti to be bordering tribes, rather 
than part of the Italian population, we have the Siculi, iEnotri, Osci (or 
Opici, or Ausones,) for the first inhabitants of Italy, the Umbrians the 
next invaders, after them the Tyrseni, and lastly the Etruscans. 

1 . The Umbrians, (thought by Archdn. Williams to be the same as Cymri, 
Cimbri, C being changed into the aspirate,) in the earliest times, probably 
reached on the S. E. to M. Garganus, and on the S. W. to the coast of 
the Mare Inferum. Michelet, Hist, de la France, ch. I. p. 3, says, that 
the Umbrians were the people called Ambra, or Celts of Italy. The Insu- 
bres were the Lower Ambrians. Pliny has preserved the date of the foun- 
dation of their capital, Ameria, 381 before Rome, i. e. 1134 B. C. It was 
inferred, from Livy IX. 36, that the Umbrians spoke the same language 
as the Etruscans ; but inscriptions have been found, which prove that 
notion to be erroneous. The most important are fcalled the Iguvine 
Tables, discovered A. D. 1444, near Gubbio, written some in Tuscan let- 
ters, from right to left, some in Latin ; but all in the Umbrian Language, 
and diff"ering entirely from Tuscan ; {e. g. the Tuscan has no letter 0, and 



LECTURE VII. ROMAN EMPIRE, PT. I. 



43 



abounds in aspirates.) The Umbrian corresponds with the Oscan, and all 
the other Italian languages, in many respects. The Umbri are said to 
have driven out the Siculi from the North, who in turn migrated to Sicily, 
and drove out from thence the Iberian Sicani, who had come through 
Spain from Mauretania. The Siculi probably were Pelasgi, from Attica, 
and the ^notri, from Epirus. The latter people became *Bruttii' (i.e. 'revolted 
slaves.') When we come down to Roman History, we find no mention of 
Siculi or ^notri ; but the Osci (Opici, or Ausones) were the chief oppo- 
nents of Rome ; to which race the Samnites probably belonged. The 
Osci were in Italy before the Siculi and .Enotri, and are what Varro calls 
the Aborigines. Niebuhr has a theory, that the Oscan was altogether 
different from the Greek language ; but Oscan inscriptions have been dis- 
covered in Pompeii and Herculaneum, Capua and Bantia, which contain 
Greek and Barbaric words too. It is nearly certain that there was one 
Pelasgian language common to all the nations of Italy, except the Etrus- 
cans ; and that the Umbrian, Oscan, Latin, &c. were merely different dia- 
lects, of the same Indo-European Stock. (' Linguae ^olic^ sermo Latin 
us est simillimus.* Quintil.) The Sabini were probably descendants 
of the Umbrians ; — ^the Latini descendants of their conquerors, the 
Osci, and Tyrseni ; hence their enmity. All the above mentioned tribes 
are considered generally to have been differentPelasgic families. {Virg. 
Mn. VIII. 600, ) After them another Pelasgic race, called Tyrseni, mi- 
grated from Greece, and came by the N. W. to Umbria. The town iEnos 
is considered a Pelasgic name, and is supposed to mark the connection 
between the Pelasgi-Tyrseni of Thrace, {Virg, ^n. III. v. 13, 18,) and the 
JSneadse of Alba Longa. But there remain 

2ndly. The Etruscans, who are generally allowed to have been strangers, 
and to have landed on the coast of Mare Inferum, and conquered the 
Umbrians. They were far superior to the Italians in point of civiUzation ; 
and their religious system corresponded wonderfully with the Indian and 
Egyptian worship ; — {e. g. the word Augurium is the same as the Hindoo 
word for a temple, — " Aicgurries.") The best speciman extant of Tuscan 
Inscription is one found at Perusia. It is totally different from any other 
language in Italy. They were generally confounded with the Pelasgi- 
Tyrseni mentioned above ; — ^but they did not call themselves by this name, 
though the Romans and Eugubian Inscriptions always call them Tusci 
and Turske. They called themselves Rasena. Niebuhr observes, that the 
Etruscans had no more, title to the name of Tyrseni^ than the English have 
now to that of Britons, or the Spanish Creoles to that of Mexicans and 
Peruvians. For their character, see Michelet, voL I. 

Herodotus (I. 94,) says, that they came from Lydia, and setting sail 
from Smyrna, landed in Umbria. All the Greek and Latin writers repeated 
this story, (^or. I. 6. 1. Virg. jEn. VIII. 479,) except Dionysius 
Hal., who rejected it, because Xanthus, a Lydian Historian before Hero- 
dotus, knew nothing of it. The legends upon which this opinion is based 
related not to the Etruscan Rasena, but to the Pelasgian-Tyrseni. The 
most probable theory seems to be, that they came from the N. of Egypt, 
which is called in the Inscriptions of monuments Ludim,'" (Rossellini) . 
Their Alphabet is Assyrian : the names of their Kings and leaders are all 

G 2 



44 ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 

found on Egyptian monuments, such as Porsenna, Tages, Tarchu, Janus, 
&c. Their priest-caste exactly corresponded with the same privileged 
class in Egypt, being the political rulers as well. Their name Rasena 
seems to point to Resen, the great Assyrian city {Gen. X. 12.) They may 
have been some of the Assyrian Hykshos, who invaded and conquered 
Egypt, and were themselves expelled by Amenophis, and probably mi- 
grated towards Greece. (Led. ^Africa.' ThirlwalU f^ol. \. p. 73.) In this 
case, the name of Resen would betoken Pelasgian origin. Bochart says, 
that an oriental pronounced " of ReserC ' Larissa,' which was the name of 
that " Great City" in Xenophon*s time {Arrowsmith^ XXII. 29, end and 
Larissa is emphatically the mark of Pelasgian origin. {Thirlwall, vol. I. p. 
34.) The Etruscans, Greeks, and Romans all give a date of about 1500, 
B. C. for their settling in Umbria. Their great hero and lawgiver Tarchu 
was cotemporary with ^neas and Orestes. {Virg. and Paterculus.) — 
Prof. Lepsius has declared their language to be Japetic, or Indo-European. 
* Adhuc sub judice lis est.' 

Constitution of Rome » 

The Pelasgian origin of Rome is implied in the legends of the Arcadian 
Evander settling on the Palatine. The religion and language sanction 
this belief. The next additions were the Cselian hill, by conquest, (the 
seat of the third tribe, the Luceres, not an Etruscan, but Tyrrhenian race ;) 
the Quirinal and Capitoline, by alliance, (the seat of the second Tribe, the 
Tatienses, a Sabine race ;) whereas the genuine Romans who formed the 
first Tribe, the Ramnes, were a Latin race, (settled on the Aventine hill, 
according to Arnold's Thucyd. I. 10.) The reigns of Romulus, Numa, 
and TuUus Hostilius apparently represent the developement of these three 
tribes. [It was the fashion of ancient tradition to represent the history 
of a nation during a certain period, as the exploits of a single hero.'] 
The reign of Ancus Marcius seems to be nearly the first historical 
fact that has come down to us. He conquered the Latins, and removed 
a great part of the conquered people to Rome ; (like the removal of the 
Jews to Kurdistan and Babylon.) This additional people formed the germ 
of the Plebs, or Commons, as opposed to the Populus, or Patricians, the 
three old tribes. The story of TuUus Host, taking Alba, and removing 
the people, seems fabulous, — at least Rome did not possess the country 
about Alba at that period. The Plebs was personally independent, and 
therefore differing from Clients and Slaves, but had no voice in the govern- 
ment originally ; and to gain some share in it was the cause of the strug- 
gles that afterwards took place. Virgil seems to bear witness that Ancus 
treated them kindly and fairly ; {jEn. VI. 817.) probably with the same 
policy as William Rufus courted the Saxons, — to support him against the 
nobles. The governing body was the 3 tribes, divided into 30 curiae, ten 
in each tribe. Their assembly was called Comitia Curiata. Besides this 
general body of citizens, there was a select council, called the Senate, 
originally consisting of 100 chief men of the Ramnes. After the union 
with the Sabines, 100 of the Titienses were admitted ; and though the 
Luceres alway had votes in the general Comitia, yet they had no repre- 



LECTURE VII. ROMAN EMPIRE, PT. I. 



45 



sentatives in the Senate, till tlie time of Tarquinius Priscus, who added 
a third 100, called Patres Minomm Gentium, — whereas the 200 were the 
Majorum G. 

This early constitution of Rome seems very simihar to that of England 
about the times of the three first Edwards. There was the King^ much 
less limited than at present ; — the Norman harons, corresponding to the 
Patrician Populus ; — the feudal vassaU, like the dependent clients, (the 
QrjTes of Athens ;) — and the free Saxon yeomanry, like the Plebs of Rome, 
who bore the chief share in the toils, though not in the rewards, of vic- 
tory. This Plebs had its own assemblies for self-government (though 
unconnected with the state,) which were called Comitia Tributa. The 
reign of the 5th King, Tarquinius Priscus, is the Etruscan period of Roman 
History. Lucumo, and his father Demaratus, are said (as is shown by the 
name) to have migrated from Corinth to Etruria. The buildings, above and 
underground, — the religion, — the games then introduced, have all of them 
an Etruscan stamp. The next King, Servius TuUius, belonged neither to a 
Royal nor patrician family : He promoted Latin and Grecian customs. 
For the constitution of S. TuUius, by which he brought together in some 
degree the Populus and Plebs, and made them all vote according to their 
property in classes and Centuries, (called the Comitia Centuriata,) see 
Keightley's Rome, p. 51, &c. The last king was Tarquinius Superbus, 
who with his family was banished, and with him ended the Monarchy, 
having lasted according to the legends 244 years. 

A republic was established, with 2 consuls at the head ; the first were 
L. Junius Brutus, and Tarquinius Collatinus. Within 12 years of this 
time, Rome had lost all her possessions on the Etruscan side of the Tiber. 
The fact was, that Porsena and the Etruscans conquered Rome, as Tacitus 
fairly owns. He also owns the capture of Rome by the Gauls> Hist. III. 
72. {Macaulafs Lays of Ancient Rome.) In the year B. C. 501, the peo- 
ple appointed the First Dictator, Lartius, for 6 months, instead of the Con- 
sids ; probably because the Consuls who were superseded were inclined to 
favour the return of the exiled King. Within 15 years of the expulsion of 
the Tarquins, the Plebs seceded to Mons Sacer, B. C. 494, and gained the 
appointment of two tribunes for their protection. Mons Sacer was to the 
Romans, what Runnymede is to Englishmen. 

The next great change in the constitution was B. C. 450, the appoint- 
ment of Decemvirs, to revise the laws. In the course of the year, they 
drew up the Laws of the Twelve Tables. In their second year, the office 
was abolished, in consequence of the wickedness of Appius Claudius. The 
consulate was restored till 445 B. C. when the principle of the decemvirate 
was again established, under the name of ' The Mihtary Tribunate,' com- 
posed of 2 Censors and 2 Qusestors (chosen from the Patricians,) and 6 
Tribunes, (chosen from either party.) The 3 Licinian Bills were passed 
B. C. 367, which gave the Plebs a right of admission to the Consulship. 

Hardly any change took place in the constitution till Sylla's time, when 
he was appointed supreme Dictator, B. C. 82; — which he voluntarily re- 
signed in 2 years, and retired into private life ; (like Diocletian, and 
Charles V.) From that time onward, till the battle of Actium, B. C. 31, 
was one continued scene of anarchy and civil war. Pompey, Csesar^ 



46 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



and Crassus form the first Triumvirate, B. C. 60 ; after B. C. 48, Julius 
Caesar was supreme, till B. C. 44. Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus form 
the Second Triumvirate, B. C. 43 : Octavius (Augustus,) Emperor of 
Rome, B. C. 30. There were eleven conspiracies discovered in Augustus' 
reign ; of which Montesquieu observes, "Tous les coups portaient sur les 
tyrans, aucun sur la tyrannic." (See Oldcastle's Remarks on English 
History, Introd. p. 26, 27.) 

History. 

(Ban. VIII. 10, 11, 23, 24.) Niebuhr well observed, respecting the 
Providential preservation of Rome, Philip the last King of Macedon's 
' * inaction at the beginning of the war with Hannibal, and that of Mithri- 

dates, during the Marsian war, are events, in which we must recognize 
" the finger of God." So again, the same Providence is traced in the 
raising up Syracuse, under Dionysius the Elder, B. C. 400, to oppose the 
Carthaginian power, 150 years before it came into contact with Rome. 
He was the instrument in the hand of God, which was placed as a break- 
water against the advances of Carthage, when the strength of Rome was 
yet unripened. l^Ym^ twice (cf. Led. VI.) did ^yracwse check the pro- 
gress of ambition. 

The Punic wars were another developement of Noah's prophecy, {Gen. 
IX» 25, 27.) It was the struggle of Japhet's against Shem's and Ham's 
races, which we shall see renewed in the Saracenic period, between the 
Crusaders and the Arabs. 

It is not without reason, that so universal and vivid a remembrance of 
the Punic Wars has dwelt in the memory of men. They formed no mere 
struggle to determine the lot of two cities or two empires ; but it was a 
strife, on the event of which depended the fate of two races of mankind, — 
whether the dominion of the world should belong to the Indo-Germanic 
or to the Semitic family of nations. Bear in mind, that the first of these 
comprises, besides the Indians and the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, 
and the Germans. In the other are ranked the Jews and the Arabs, the 
Phoenicians and the Carthaginians. On the one side is the genius of 
heroism, of art, and legislation : on the other, is the spirit of industry, of 
commerce, of navigation. These two opposite races have everywhere 
come into contact, everywhere into hostility. In the primitive history 
of Persia and Chaldsea, the heroes are perpetually engaged in combat with 
their industrious and perfidious neighbours. These last are artisans, ar- 
mourers, miners, enchanters. They love gold ; they are prone to blood- 
shed ; they are addicted to pleasure. They build towers on a scale of 
Titanic ambition — gardens in the air; which the ^ord of the heroes 
scatters to the air, and sweeps from the face of the earth. [The Roman 
consuls presided over civil and military affairs, the Carthaginian suffetes 
only over civil. Rome aimed at conquest, Carthage at commerce.] 

The struggle is renewed between the Phoenicians and the Greeks on 
every coast of the Mediterranean. The Greek supplants the Phoenician 
in all his factories, all his colonies in the East ; soon will the Roman come. 



LECTURE VII. ROMAN EMPIRE, PT. I. 



47 



and do likewise in the West. See, too, with what fury the Phoenicians, 
under the banners of Xerxes, attack Greece at Salamis, on the very day 
that their brethren the Carthaginians landed the vast army in Sicily, which 
Gelon destroyed at the Himera ! Yet a little while, and the Greeks ad- 
vance, in their turn, to attack their eternal foes in their own homes. 
Alexander did far more against Tyre than Salmanasar, or Nabuchodonosor 
had done. Not content with crushing her, he took care that she should 
never revive ; for he founded Alexandria as her substitute, and changed 
for ever the track of the commerce of the world. There remained Car- 
thage — the great Carthage, and her mighty empire — mighty in a far dif- 
ferent degree than Phoenicia's had been. Rome annihilated it. Then oc- 
curred that which has no parallel in history ; — an entire civilization perished 
at one blow — vanished, hke a falling star. The Periplus of Hanno, a few 
coins, a score of hues in Plautus, and, lo ! all that remains of the Cartha- 
ginian world ! Many generations must needs pass away before the strug- 
gle between the two races could be renewed, and the Arabs, that formi- 
dable rear-guard of the Semitic world, dashed forth from their deserts. 
The conflict between the two races then became the conflict of two reli- 
gions. Fortunate was it, that those daring Saracenic cavahers encountered 
in the East the impregnable walls of Constantinople ; — in the West, the 
chivahous valour of Charles Martel, and the sword of the Cid. The Cru- 
sades were the natural reprisals for the Arab invasions, and form the last 
epoch of that great struggle between the two principal families of the 
human race. 

" The vast commercial empire of the Carthaginians, extending all along 
the coasts of Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Gaul, and Spain, and even 
to the shores of the Great Ocean, cannot be compared with the compact 
possessions of the Enghsh and Spaniards in America ; it is more like the 
chain of forts and factories that made up the Portuguese Empire, or the 
Dutch in the East Indies. Like these last, the Carthaginians, who estab- 
lished themselves in colonies, did not do so without the hope of return. 
It was the poorer portion of the population that was sent out, to enrich 
themselves by the sudden profits of oppressive trade, ajid then hurry back 
to the mother country, to enjoy the fruits of their pillagings. There 
must have been rapid colossal fortunes — plundering and exaction on an 
unheard-of scale : there must have been Punic Clives and Hastingses, who 
coidd make their boast of having exterminated milhons of men by a sys- 
tem of monopoly more destructive than war." i^Michslefs Rome, vol. 
II. p. 38.) 



" Two thousand one hundred years ago, a boy was born at Carthage, 
whose name and exploits have rendered his country immortal. It is hard 
to say whether he was greater as a Statesman or a General. Invincible 
in determination, inexhaustible in his resources, patient of fatigue, cautious 
in council, bold in action, Hannibal possessed also that singleness of pur- 
pose, which more than all is the foundation of great achievements. Love 
of his country was his one riding principle — hatred of his enemies his one 



48 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



lasting and indelible passion. From the time that he swore hatred to the 
Romans, while yet a boy, on the altars of Carthage, he never ceased to 
watch their designs, to contend with their forces, to resist their ambition. 
Alone of all his countrymen he stood forth, with the strength of a giant, 
to combat the progress of their power. Had he not been shamefully de- 
serted by his own Senate, owing to the jealousy of the rival faction at 
Carthage, he would have crushed the power of the legions, and given to 
Carthage, not to Rome, the Empire of the World.* 

" With regard to his political wisdom and sagacity, ancient history is full 
of testimonies to it. If no other proof had been preserved, it would be 
sufficiently established by the memorable words he addressed to the Senate 
respecting the probable fate of Rome : * No great state (he said) can re- 

* main quiet for any length of time. If it has no foreign enemy, it finds 

* one at home : just as strong constitutions seem safe from external 

* causes of decay, but are worn out by their own internal powers. 

* Public calamities are only so far felt, as they touch private property, and 

* nothing moves men more keenly than the loss of money.' If any one 
doubts the truth and profound wisdom of these words, let him reflect on 
their exact demonstration in the present state of the British Empire, and 
her struggles thirty or forty years ago with the French Republic. " If 
you seek for a proof, look around you." 

" Hannibal constantly aflirmed that it was in Italy alone that Rome was 
vulnerable. Even after the battle of Zama, he did not despair of effecting 
the dehverance of his country on the shores of Italy. Nor is it difficult 
to see wherein consisted the internal weakness of so great a military power. 
When Rome carried war into a foreign state, the strength of her legions 
was doubled by auxiliaries : when she was assailed at home, one half of 
these was lost, or appeared in the ranks of the enemy. 

" The Roman historians affirm that these great military virtues were 
balanced by corresponding vices: ** Inhumana crudelitas ; perfidia plusquam 
*' Punica ; nihil veri, nihil sancti ; nullus deorum metus, nullum jusjuran- 
" dum, nulla religio." This sketch of his character is very similar to Guic- 
ciar dint's account of Pope Alexander (Borgia) VI. We must remember that 
this was his character as drawn by his enemies, and that too, by enemies 
who had suffered so much from him, that they were unable to form a dis- 
passionate judgment on the subject. It is certain that his generosity on 
several important occasions afforded an example that the Romans would 
have done well to imitate. It was the judicious clemency that he showed 
to the allies, which at length won over so many of the Italian states to his 
side : and if this is to be ascribed to pohcy, what are we to say to the 
noble courtesy, which prompted him to send back the dead body of Mar- 
ceUus, to obtain the honours of sepulture from his countrymen. 

Such was Hannibal, — a man, able by his single arm and talent, to arrest 
and almost overturn the most energetic nation the world ever saw. His 
combat with Rome was not that of one general with another, of one army 
with another: it was like the subsequent contest between Napoleon 



* Yet Demosthenes had to contend with worse enemies at home ; and so perhaps had Marl- 
borough at the Hague, and the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsula. 



LECTURE VII. ROMAN EMPIRE, PT. I. 



49 



and England ; it was the contest of one man with a whole nation, and in 
both cases, the nation, after being reduced to the most grievous straits, 
proved victorious over the man. But Hannibal was not supported as the 
French Emperor was, during the great part of his splendid career : no 
obsequious senate voted him two millions of men in 15 years ; he did 
not march with the youth of his own country, and the military strength 
of half Europe at his back. Alone, unfriended, with the Roman legions in 
front, and the jealous Carthaginian Senate as it were in the rear, without 
succour, reinforcements, or any assistance from home, he maintained the 
contest in Italy for fifteen years, against the might, the energy, the patrio- 
tism of Rome." In addition to Arnold's 37'd vol. of the History of Rome, 
see the 2nd vol. of his Life and Correspondence pp. 245, and 271, for 
his character and campaigns. " Some of Hannibal's faults remind me 
(he says) of Nelson." 

Twice in history (says Arnold'' s Eome, vol. III. p. 63,) has there been 
witnessed the struggle of the highest individual genius againt the resources 
and institutions of a great nation, and in both cases the nation has been 
victorious. For 17 years Hannibal strove against Rome; for 16 years 
Buonaparte strove against England : the efforts of the first ended in Zama; 
those of the second in Waterloo. 

Hannibal was 26 years of age when he was appointed commander-in- 
chief : 2 years were employed in expeditions against the native Spaniards — 
the 3rd in the siege of Saguntum, which lasted 8 months. He set out on 
his march for the Iberus in the month of May, B. C. 218, with an army 
of 90,000 foot, and 12,000 horse. He conquered at a heavy expense of 
men the country attached to the Roman interest, between the Ebro and 
the Pyrenees, and left Hanno, with 1 1,000, to retain possession of it. The 
force with which he entered Gaul was reduced to 50,000 foot, and 9000 
horse. 

We shall foUow Arnold's view of his march, which tallies for the most 
part with Polybius, not Livy. The only points in which he differs from 
Polybius will be noticed as we proceed. Arnold adopts what is usually 
called General Melville's Theory. 

Hannibal marched from Saguntum to Emporium, along the sea coast 
from thence, turning northwards at 4^ E. Long., to Nismes, and up to 
Arausio. (Polybius would make him go from Nismes, to cross at Tarasco, 
across the Druentia to Arausio.) Finding the Gauls on the opposite bank, 
to resist his passage, he sent a detachment 20 miles up the Rhone, who 
crossed it, and got on the rear of the enemy, and he crossed it then with- 
out difficulty at Arausio. (Polybius says that Scipio arrived three days later, 
and did not engage with Hannibal, as Corn. Nep. Vit. Hann. states ; but 
then descended the Rhone, embarked the army, and sent it to Spain, under 
Cneius his brother ; a most far-sighted measure, for he thus cut off Han- 
nibal's supplies for money and men from Spain ; and but for this his son 
would probably never have gained Zama.) To proceed : Hannibal got all 
his elephants over, and marched up the left bank of the River, till he came 
to R. Isere ; he crossed that River, and then (according to Arnold) still 
continued his march up the left {i. e. Eastern) bank of the Rhone to 
Vienne ; then struck across to the Northern extremity of the mountains 

H 



50 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



between the Rhone and Isere, near Chamberry : he then turned S. E., 
stormed the town Montmeillan, just by the right bank of the Isere, 60 E. 
Long. [At this point Arnold's route joins the one commonly called Poly- 
bius,' which was made to turn up the right bank of the Isere immediately 
after crossing, and keep along it to Montmeillan, instead of going up to 
Vienne, Polybius' account is very confused and uncertain at this point.] 
Hannibal then proceeded 3 days march as far as S. Maurice, up the right 
bank of the Isere. The Gauls made offers of peace, and persuaded him 
to pass through a narrow defile, along a narrow ledge over a torrent ; and 
then they attacked him. However, after some difficulties, he reached the 
summit of the Little -St. Bernard. This was about the end of October, 
when Germany was one great forest, and consequently the climate of the 
Alps far colder than at present.* He was now between the Isere and Dora 
Baltea Rivers. He had been 6 days in reaching the summit ; he halted 2 
days ; and on the 9th began the descent. He reached Artolica (La Tuille) 
on that day ; the next 4 days was mending the roads, and getting as far as 
Arebrigium (Pr^ St. Didier :) on the 14th he continued his march ; on the 
1 5th he reached the plain : at this point, according to his own statement, 
he had only 12,000 African, 8000 Spanish Infantry, with 6000 Cavalry ; 
so that his march from the Pyrenees to the plains of N. Italy had cost 
him 33,000 men. He continued his march along the Dora, crossing a 
little W. of Cita D' Aosta, then keeping along the right bank to Vitricium 
(Verres,) and along the left to Eporedium (Ivrea,) in the country of the 
Insubres ; thence S. W. to Turin, which he took after 3 days siege. 

Scipio had now landed at Pisa, had crossed the Po at Placentia, and 
was ascending the left bank ; while Hannibal descended the Po on the 
same side : and when Scipio had crossed the Ticinus, and had entered 
what are now the Sardinian dominions, Hannibal defeated him. After this 
battle, he crossed the Po, took Clastidium, defeated Sempronius on the 
W. of the R. Trebia, crossed the Apennines (not by the usual route at 
the source of the R. Macra, 9°, 75', E. Long., but) by the source of the 
Anser (or Serchio,) 10°, 25', E.: he passed by Arretium at the North of 
Clusina Palus, 11°, 50', E. and 43°, 30', N. Lat., along the N. E. bank of 
the Thrasymenus Lacus, where he engaged, defeated, and slew Flaminius. 
He crossed the Tiber, and the Apennines, about 43° N. Lat., till he reached 
the Adriatic ; marched along the coast (cutting off the spur of Garganus) 
to Daunia, just below Arpi ; but finding the Apulians did not join him, he 
recrossed the Apennines in a S. W. direction, through the Hirpini, near 
by Claudium, down the Calor R. to the Vulturnus, up its left bank to Cal- 
Jifse ; crossed it, to Cales. Being hard pressed by Fabius, he ascended the 
right (or W.) bank of the Vulturnus to Venafrum, thence into Samnium, 
crossed the Apennines about 14°, 25' E. Long. 41°, 31' N. Lat., marched 
into Peligni by Sulmo ; down again to the N. of Apulia, near Larinum, 15" 
E., where he established his magazine, seized the Roman magazine at Can- 
nse, and fought his great battle, B. C. 216. 



* On this passage of the Little St. Bernard, (or Mount Cenis, as others state,) compared with 
other similar feats, See Alison, vol. iv. p. 316, Note. He says, Napoleon's passage over the Great 
St. Bernard, in the summer of 1800, will bear no comparison with this of Hannibal's in the winter. 
— Arnold's Rome, vol. in. p. 89. The other parallels are the Emperor Majorian's (Gibbon, c. 36 ;) 
the march of Suwarrow, A. D. 1799, over St. Gothard; and of General Macdonald, over the Splu- 
gen, A. D. 1800.-See Alison, vol. iv. p. 182, 416. 



LECTURE VII. ROMAN EMPIRE, PT. I. 



51 



Hannibal owed his victories at Trebia, Thrasymene, and Cannee, mainly 
to the Gauls. At this latter battle, out of his 50,000 combatants, at least 
30,000 were Gauls. Battles, sickness, and the fatal passage over the 
marshes of Etruria had thinned his ranks, and his army was then recruited 
with men from Campania, and Lucania ; a very different race from the 
warlike Gauls, of whom 60,000 had originally joined him. Hence Cannae 
was the hmit of his success : his army had changed, not his genius. It 
was not the delay at Capua, but the loss of communication with Cisalpine 
Gaul, that he is to be reproached with. The Romans had sent one army 
against the Gauls at their own hearth, while with another she had made 
head against the Carthaginians. 

Napoleon said — ' Give me the GaUic Infantry and the Mameluke Cavalry, 
and I will subdue the world.' It is not a little striking, that his great 
prototype Hannibal triumphed over Eome at the head of an army com- 
posed of Gaulish foot and Numidian horse. Observe the unchanging cha- 
racter of race. 

In the 1st Punic war, Regulus was beaten as soon as the Carthaginians 
gave over the war of sieges in Sicily, (like the war of the Spanish succes- 
sion in the Netherlands,) and brought their cavalry into play ; and in the 
2nd, Scipio made an alliance with Masinissa, and so brought Numidian 
Cavalry to oppose Hannibal. {See Montesquieu, * Esprit des Lois\ Ch. 



" If any portion of Ancient History has acquired fresh interest through 
recent events, it is surely that period of the Roman Commonwealth during 
which that Queen of the World turned its arms upon itself, and, through 
a succession of revolutions and civic tumults, eventually fashioned itself 
into a Monarchy, stdl an object of terror to all beyond its limits. The 
world then saw, for the first time, the fearful apparition of a great Mili- 
tary Repubhc, and has not looked upon its like again until our own times. 
Not, however, merely the great foreign wars, but the mighty inner con- 
vulsions of the Roman Commonwealth at this period deserve the his- 
torian's attention. They commence with the agitation excited by the 
Gracchi, and terminate a full century afterwards, with the battle of Ac- 
tium. Particular contests during this period were at some time more 
stormy than at others ; but throughout the whole of it the Republic was 
in a Revolutionary condition. 

" When Tiberius Gracchus first came forward in this character, Rome 
had already reached her seventh century. After a long struggle, she had 
raised herself to the supremacy of Italy ; and then, after a still more obsti- 
nate struggle, had conquered her neighbour, the opulent Carthage, — a 
conquest which gave her a preponderance over all the Powers of the age, 
so that the dominion of the world lay within her grasp. 

" Macedonia and Greece were subdued : all the former provinces of 
Carthage had become provinces of Rome. 

" The Roman legions had already been victorious in Asia ; and the 
Senate had formed pohtical connexions with other states, which volun- 

H 2 



52 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



tarily adopted that body as their Protectors, if not formally as their Sover- 
eigns ; — an advantage which that body carefully requited with the bare 
title of Socius Populi Romani. 

" Within, Rome had enjoyed complete repose for 200 years. The old 
feuds of Patricians and Plebeians had long died away, ever since the period 
when the latter obtained fully equal rights with the former ; and the Pa- 
triciate, though not abolished, had become a mere title. 

" Such might Rome's condition have appeared at first sight, — a condi- 
tion promising long internal quiet, as well as a rapid increase of dominion. 
But he who looked deeper, and scanned more accurately her inward and 
outward relations, must have arrived at a wholly different conclusion, and 
have been able to foreshadow the great convulsions that shortly occurred, 
though it were impossible to predict their exact order and developement. 

The Roman state was certainly a Republic, but the citizens themselves 
were by far the smallest portion of its inhabitants. Only those who ac- 
tually resided within the walls of Rome and the very Mmited town-dis- 
tricts, with the members of some few Italian states, which, under the name 
of Municipia, had received fully equal rights with Rome, deserve the title 
of Citizens 3 in the full signification of the word. These made up the 
ruling body, the Sovereign People. The other numerous races and nations 
within and without Italy were in a state of more or less complete subjec- 
tion, according as it had pleased the Romans to vouchsafe to them greater 
or scantier privileges. A considerable distinction existed in respect of the 
Italian nations. Most of these, not having submitted to the Romans un - 
conditionally, but having stipulated for certain terms, were treated more 
as allies than subjects, and usually retained the management of their own 
domestic affairs, though they lost the right of determining their foreign 
relations, and were bound to supply contingents to Rome in men as well 
as money. 

" There was a remarkable difference of rights among these, according as 
they possessed the Jus Latinum or the Jus Italicum. But they were all 
divided by a broad distinction from all the non-Italians, and even from 
certain Italian states, which had been deprived of all their rights, and 
which had become subjects of Rome in the strictest sense of the term. 
These were under the government of Roman Prsefects, annually appointed ; 
and they suffered all the more severely, by reason of the military organi- 
zation imposed on them. 

" A class of men had formed itself at Rome, possessing neither pro- 
perty nor industry — a numerous Populace. So, too, as single families 
acquired enormous wealth, through official employments, and especially 
through the governments of provinces, did this mass become more and 
more pauperized ; and that hideous phsenomenon which a great city often 
displays, extreme poverty hy the side of excessive wealth, began to mani- 
fest itself at Rome." 

These observations of Heeren show the true sources of Rome's dangers 
at this period, and they strikingly illustrate the present state of England. 

The Yeomen were rapidly disappearing : above the position which they 
had occupied, an Oligarchy of Wealth had reared itself : beneath that 
position, a degraded mass of poverty and misery was fermenting. It 



LECTURE VII. — ROMAN EMPIRE, PT. I. 



53 



has been truly said in modern times, that no state can be safe, when its 
citizens are made up of Millionaires and Lazzaroni. 

The object of the Gracchi seems to have been to check these evils, by 
restoring a numerous and powerful Middle Class of free citizens, to be 
composed of small landed proprietors ; and, by giving the franchise to the 
Italian aUies, to renovate the exhausted Republic with fresh currents of 
purer population. It is certain that no other policy could have saved the 
freedom and happiness of Rome. Whether the measures brought forward 
by the Gracchi were best calculated to work out this policy, is another 
question. We owe it to Heeren, Heyne, and Niebuhr, that these two 
illustrious brethren are no longer looked on as common anarchists and 
levellers. It is now clearly understood, that their Agrarian laws applied 
only to the resumption and re-granting of the state domains : the rights 
of property, in the strict sense of the word, were never menaced. But see 
KehUs Prcelect. vol. I. p. 209—214. 

Last, but greatest of all the causes that rendered the Roman people in- 
capable of existing any longer as a Republic, and made their subjugation to 
the rule of some military adventurer inevitable, was the universal spread 
of irrehgion and profligacy. This is disguised, or lightly passed over by 
some modern writers ; but no one can become familiar with the Classics, 
without having it perpetually forced upon his notice in a thousand hideous 
forms. [See especially Wordsworth's Discourses on Education, p. 295 — 
311.] These facts teach the great moral, that, to preserve freedom, piety 
and vu'tue must not be suffered to decay. The Romans, whose foreign 
conquests and domestic concord Polybius witnessed, believed firmly in a 
future state of rewards and punishments : hence, as Polybius remarked, 
came the probity that honourably distinguished their nation. The Romans 
of Csesar's time had learned to look on such ideas as vain and ridiculous. 
The atheistic materialism of the Epicurean School, or the universal scepti- 
cism of the Academy, formed the favourite philosophy of the learned and 
the great. Perhaps the reign of Louis XV., which preceded and produced 
the French Revolution, is the only parallel of the last years of the Roman 
Repubhc in universahty of infidelity and vice. We may add, that a strik- 
ing parallel might be drawn between Csesar and Napoleon in respect of 
their infidelity, their unscrupulous ambition, and their military genius. 




B. C. 

753 
510 
501 



494 



450 
445 



300 Fabii killed at Cremera 

Romans defeated by Gauls at Allia . . 

Pyrrhus defeated by the Romans at Beneventum 



477 
387 
377 



54 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



First Punic war begins 

ends 

Second Punic war begins 
Battles of Ticinus and Trebia 
Battles of Thrasymene and Cannse 
Battle of Zama, in which Hannibal is defeated 
End of Second Punic War 



B. C. 

263 
240 
218 
216 
215 

201 



Subjugation of Greece to Rome 
Third Punic War begins 

ends 

Scipio Afr. Minor takes Carthage 



167 
149 

146 



Tiberius Gracchus killed 
Caius Gracchus killed 



133 
121 



Marius defeats Jugiirtha after 5 years war 
Marius defeats the Cimbri at Aquae Sextise 
Sylla ends the Social war 

Mithridatic war chiefly settled by Lucullus and Pompey 
Civil war between Marius and Sylla, arising from the 

attempt to deprive Sylla of the command of the Mith 

ridatic war 

Crassus defeats Spartacus, and ends the Servile war 
Crassus defeated by the Parthians at Charrse 
Battle of Pharsalia . . 
Battle of Philippi . . 
Battle of Actium » . 



y 

•■} 



106 
102 
89 
88 

87 

71 
53 
48 
42 
31 



Mark the route according to Arnold in Red, Polybius' variations in Blue, Livy's 
variations in Yellow. Livy makes Hannibal turn S. E. from Valentia to the Druna 
fl., and then keep along its right bank across Eastwards to Vapincum (Gap), up the 
right bank of the Druentia to Briancon, across Mt. Genevre (Alpis Cottia) to Turin. 



[One cannot help smiling at the " superbia ingenita" of a Roman, when Livy discusses the 
probable result of a war between Alexander and Rome, supposing it had taken place, and sets such 
third-rate men as Papirius Cursor as antagonists to the greatest name of antiquity. Pliny fairly 
confesses that the Romans sent ambassadors to Alexander at Babylon, by way of acknowledging 
their submission. This interesting question is discussed in the 3rd vol. of Niebuhr's Rome, 
pp. 169, &c. and in Arnold's Rome, vol. 2. Chap. XXX.] 



LECTURE VIII. 



ROMAN EMPIRE, (2nd Part.) 
(From Augustus, B. C. 31, to Odoacer, A. D. 476.) 



Geographical Boundaries, 

Augustus bequeathed to his successors the salutary advice of confining 
the Empire within the natural Hmits of the Atlantic Ocean on the W., 
the Sandy Deserts of Africa and Arabia on the S., the Euphrates on the 
E., and the Danube and Rhine on the N. This advice his successors 
generally followed. There were periods when the limits were extended ; 
as we learn from Tacitus, (Annal. L 59, II. 19, 22,) that the Elbe was 
the North-Eastern Boundary in the reign of Tiberius ; and we know Trajan 
made Dacia a Roman Province. Yet these were but temporary extensions 
of the line ; and it is better therefore to follow the above statement from 
Gibbon, vol. I. Chap. 1. The only additional remark to be made is, that 
the line of the Roman Empire on the N. must be extended into Britain, 
as far as the Clyde and Forth, from Agricola's time. 

Ethnography. 

In the former Description of the Roman Empire, we considered all the 
ancient stocks of Italy but the Ligurians and Venetians. The liigurians 
originally extended beyond the Alps, as far as the Rhone ; and the Car- 
thaginian Geographers derived them and their name from the Liger or 
Loire. In confirmation of this, Thucydides says the Ligurians drove out 
the Iberians from Spain into Sicily, where they settled, under the name of 
Sicani. According to Strabo, they were different from the Celts. Virgil 
speaks of them as a hardy race {Georg. II. 168,) and as deceitful {Mn. 
XL 701, 715.) They were not conquered by the Romans till 166 B. C. 
The only known Ligurian word is Bodencus, which Pliny tells us means 
'unfathomable.'' {Arrowsmith, XII. 7. 11.) One is almost inclined to be- 
lieve the real word is BodenloSy German for * bottomless.^ Llygwyr, * men 
of the sea coast,' probably was the Celtic name given to these Ligurians. 
The same meaning is assigned by Ethnographers to the name Veneti, 
' dwellers on the coast,' a Slavonic or Russian word ; but generally they 



56 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



have been considered the same as the "Eueroi of Homer, and to have 
come from Paphlagonia. (Tacit. Germ, 46. Miller, vol. I. 20, Pkilos. 
Hist.) In their language there was a considerable mixture of Greek, 
{Cramer^ s Italy, vol. I. p. Ill, 112.) Herodotus (I. 196,) considered 
them to be lUyrians. Polybius says they were like in habits, but diftered 
in language from the Celts of Cisalpine Gaul. 

All these ancient stocks were absorbed by the Latin language. It is 
observable, that whereas we found in the Asiatic Empires the conquered 
(being the more civilized) absorbed the language of the conquerors {Lect. 
2, 4, 5,) we have found in Greece and Rome the civilized conquerors ab- 
sorbing the conquered, and forcing their own language upon the subject 
people, like Napoleon in our own times. Bulwer's Athens, I. 20. In 
modern Europe, the Frankish language and character has almost en- 
tirely disappeared in the Latin and Celtic element of the conquered race. 
(Guizot, sur la France, Essai III. ch. 4.) " Grsecia capta ferum victorem 
cepit, et artes Intulit agresti Latio," is an universal principle. 

The earliest hordes of barbarians that attacked the Roman Empire were 
the Goths (Ostrogoths and Visigoths,) Heruli, Rugii, Huns, and Vandals. 
Their language showed that they came originally from the East. (Prit- 
chard, vol. III. 403.) They were not Getse. {Pritchard, ib. 369.) They 
had settled about the neighbourhood of the Vistula and Oder. It is in- 
teresting to observe the difference between the moww^ec? barbarians of Asia, 
living in open steppes, and the inarching inhabitants of European woods. 
The heroes of this first horde of barbarians were Alaric, Genseric, Odoa- 
cer, Theodoric. Their most lasting impression was made on Spain, where 
the Goths founded a Monarchy. 

The next horde of barbarians were the Burgundians, Suevi, and Ale- 
manni. They came from the Upper Rhine : their period was later. Their 
sphere of action was the French and Italian frontier. Their conquests, 
like the former, were by land. 

The third great race of barbarian conquerors came more in contact with 
the North than South of Europe. They consisted of the Saxons, Angles, 
Batavi, Frisii. Their locality was the Elbe, and their enterprises chiefly 
naval ; e. g. against Britain. 

This third horde was driven to maritime enterprises by Clovis repelling 
them from the French frontier. This succession of land and naval expe- 
ditions illustrates the remark from Keble's Preelections, (quoted in Lect, 
XII.) as to the natural order of maritime enterprises succeeding military. 

M. Ferrand, Esprit de V Histoire , compares these successive waves of 
barbarians from the Danube, to the immense glaciers in the mountains of 
Switzerland, supplying the rivers of Europe. 

History. 

Daniel's description of the Fourth Empire exactly corresponds with the 
history of Rome : To * devour,' to ' tread down,' and to ' break in pieces,' 
was her ofiice among nations. {Virg. jEn. VI. 850.) Previously, the 
aspect of the world was diversified by republics in Europe, and monarchies 



LECTURE VIIT. ROMAN EMPIRE, PT. II. 



57 



in Asia ; by the cavalry of the East, and the infantry of the West. Now 
everything was recast into Rome's iron mould, like the bed of Procrustes. 
Old forms were trampled under foot, and forgotten. Nor is the image of 
iron less apphcable to the individual Homan, than to the state. Integrity 
and inflexibility were their characteristics. Polybius, Cicero, and Horace, 
attribute their ascendancy to the respect they entertained for religion. 
("^ Dis te minorem quod geris, imperas.") They somewhat resembled the 
Spartans in their patriotism and endurance, though their principles were 
of a far higher stamp, being the natural produce of the domestic virtues, 
and a sense of duty to God ; whereas the Spartan character was the forced 
effect of an unnatural education. But more especially to what but Divine 
Providence can we ascribe the singular confidence they felt in the ' ' For- 
tune of Rome," which led the Senate to render pubHc thanks to Teren- 
tius Varro, because, after the disastrous defeat of Cannse, **he had not 
despaired of therepubhc?" {Arnold's Thucyd.l. 70.) *' Fractum ani- 
mum Hannibali scripsit Polybius, quod S. P. Q. R. rebus afflictis tarn ex- 
cels© animo fuisset." Cic. de Off. 3. 

Montesquieu, Esprit des Lois, Ch. I. remarks, that the circumstance, 
which of all others contributed most to the ultimate greatness of Rome, 
was the very long continued wars in which its people were early involved. 
The Italians had no machines for conducting sieges. They fought for 
the pillage of a camp, or the booty of the fields (as the soldiers fought, 
without pay), after which the victors and vanquished ahke retired to their 
own cities. It was this circumstance that occasioned the long resistance 
of the Italian cities, and at the same time the obstinate resistance of the 
Romans in their endeavours to subjugate them. It was that gave them 
victories that did not enervate, and conquests which left them poverty. 
Had they rapidly conquered the neighbouring cities, they would have 
aimed at their dechne before the days of Pyrrhus, of the Gauls, and Han- 
nibal. (On this subject, see Lect. XVI.) 

It has been shown in the preceding Lectures, that, in the vision of 
Daniel, the Head of Gold signifies the Babylonian Empire ; the breast 
and arms of Silver, the Persian ; the belly and thighs of Brass, the Gre- 
cian. The legs of Iron and feet of Clay represent the Roman Power, the 
greatest of all Ancient Empires, and comprising the whole civihzed world. 
{Ban. II. 31, 33 ; andNli. 7. 19. 23.) 



This portion of History may be conveniently divided into Four Periods ; — - 



I. The Twelve Caesars, B. C. 48 to . . A. D. 96. 

II. Trajan, and the Antonines, .. .. A.D. 96 to 180. 

III. Commodus, to Constantine the Great, . . A. D. 180 to 337. 

IV. Constantine to Odoacer, Dissolution of 1 ^ t* qqt +^ ^'r^i 

Western Empire | " A. D. 337 to 4/6. 



The First and Second Periods represent the maturity of the Empire. 
The Third, the Decay. The Fourth, the Dissolution. 



I 



58 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



First Period. 

We shall only speak of Csesar's Gallic Wars, B. C. 58. He commenced 
his career by defeating the Helvetii, next advanced against Ariovistus and 
his Germans, who were ravaging the E. of Gaul. He routed them, and 
settled himself among the Sequani, who were the first nation of Gaul that 
flew to arms. After 3 campaigns, the N. and W. had submitted, and he 
had made his first descent upon Britain. In his 4th campaign, he under- 
took the 2nd Expedition against Britain. In this campaign the Gauls 
gained some advantages, but in the 5th he again triumphed. In the 6th, 
the surprise of Genabum and capture of Avaricum seemed to promise well, 
but his repulse before Geronia brought the whole of Gaul against him. 
He defeated Vercingetorix, (Prince Vercinget, orix being Celtic for a 
prince,) and the fate of the war hung upon Alexia, which capitulated after 
a hard-fought field ; the Gaulish nations submitted, and Vercingetorix was 
given up. In the ensuing year, B. C. 51, he took the field for his 7th and 
last campaign ; in which the Gauls no longer risked general engagements, 
but tried defensive warfare. Caesar overcame all difficulties, and the 
territory was organized as a Roman Province. 

The policy that Csesar adopted was first to bring about the union of 
Crassus and Pompey, which (like that of Lord North and Fox) was the 
ruin of both. His next step was the bringing forward the Agrarian Law, 
to which he had induced both his Colleagues to assent, and so ruined their 
influence with Cato, Cicero, and the aristocrats ; and he made the Senate 
and every successive magistrate swear to do nothing to the prejudice of 
this law, which will account for his preserving his influence after 10 years 
absence in war, &c. He then united himself to Clodius, Cicero's great 
enemy, though it was in his own house that the infamous scene of the 
Bona Dea mysteries occurred, when Clodius was detected. His unscrupu- 
lous ambition, and his atheistical Epicureanism, combined with singular 
military talents, remind us strongly of Napoleon. 

He soon became a competitor with Pompey for the Empire of the 
world, defeated him at Pharsalia, chiefly by means of his Batavian, or 
Dutch troops, B. C. 48, and was Dictator, or de facto Emperor, till he was 
murdered, B.C. 44. {See Shakespeare's Julius Caesar ; Arnold'' s Homey 
vol. III. 387 ; and Niehuhr, vol. 5, for his character.) 

Augustus and Antony defeated Brutus and Cassius at Philippi, B.C. 42. 
The battle of Actium, B.C. 31, between Augustus and Antony, {see 
Virg. JEn. VIII. Jin.) put an end to the Republic and the civil wars, 
which had raged, with little intermission, from the time of Marius 
and Sylla, B. C. 87. It left aU the power in the hands of Octavianus, 
who took the name of Augustus, B. C. 27. During his reign, there lasted 
almost universal Peace, the world thus unconsciously paying homage to 
" the Prince of Peace," who was born in this reign. In the year A. D. 
10, the Romans under Varus sustained a grievous defeat at the hands of 
Hermann the Cheruscan (Arminius.) [N. B. Augustus' frequent exclama- 
ion, "Quinctili Vare, legiones redde."] 



LECTURE VIII. ROMAN EMPIRE, PT. II. 



59 



The Twelve Caesars were very unequal men in their characters and ca- 
pacity. They exhibit the extremes of vice and heathen virtue, — Caligula, 
and Titus. Theii' reigns extend over 140 years, from Julius Ceesar, B. C. 
48, to Doniitian, A. D. 96. 

Augustus has been frequently contrasted with Charlemagne, and his 
character suffers by the comparison. Augustus cuncta discordiis fessa 
sub imperium accepit." Never was so wide a field opened for a man's 
providing and establishing a strong and lasting government. The times 
and state of public feehng remind one of England upon Charles Ilnd's 
Restoration. {Led. XV.) Augustus had only to consolidate, whereas Char- 
lemagne was a conqueror and legislator at once. Yet Augustus moved like 
a man groping in the dark : Charlemagne walked forward with a bold and 
firm step. Augustus lived at home, and left all to his lieutenants : Charle- 
magne had his Missi Bominici, but travelled in all directions himself. 
Gibbon attributes all the calamities of the Empire to the throne not having 
been fixed as an hereditary one. Tacitus says he chose Tiberius for his 
successor rather than Drusus, because of his vices, — comparatione deter- 
rima sibi gloriam qusesivisse and Suetonius says, — *'ambitiosfe factum, 
ut desiderabUia ipse fieret." 

Tiberius' reign is chiefly marked by the rise and fall of the favourite 
Sejanus, and the infamous scenes of the Court at Capreae. {Cf. Juv. Sat. 
X. 61. 107.) Compare the history of Henri III. of France and the Duke 
of Guise. 

Caligula's words tell their own story, — '^Oderint, dum metuant." 

Nero's name is connected with the burning of Rome, which he imputed 
to the Christians ; and their persecution in consequence. {Cf. Juv. I. 155, 
and YIII. 235. * Tunica molesta.') 

Galba was the " Henry Vlth" of Rome, had more virtue than worldly 
prudence. He was said to have been thought '*Capax imperii, nisi im- 
perasset." — When his friend and the minister of his reforms was killed, 
'* Galba sacris intentus fatigabat aheni jam imperii Deos." 

Vitellius was " Pernicies et tempestas barathrumque macelli." 

Vespasian sent the army against the Jews, A. D. 67. Solus impera- 
torum mutatus in mehus," like our Henry Y. Vespasian banished the 
philosophers from Rome, on the ground that, in a corrupt people, phi- 
losophy is the art of systematizing corruption. 

Titus, DelicivE generis humani," destroys Jerusalem utterly, (Arrow- 
smith, XXL 6.) A. D. 70, the fulfilment of Prophecy. {Matth. XXIV.) 

Bomitian (''ne musca quidem") is described Juv. Sat. IV. who calls 
him ' Flavins ultimus.' He was the last of the Caesars : not that the in- 
heritance had fallen out lineally in them, for it was patched up by adop- 
tions from the Octavian, Claudian, and Flavian Families. Latterly there 
had been a gradual decay of public spirit : all eminence was repressed 
(*' id maximfe formidolosum, privati hominis nomen suprk principis at- 
toUi.") The Praetorian guards (like the Janisaries at Constantinople) held 
the real government of the Empire in their own hands. {Cf. ' Didius Ju- 
lianus,' Class. Bict.) 

[The conclusion of this Lecture was partly supplied by a friend, as also the latter half of the next.] 



60 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



Second Period. The Age of the Antonines, A. D. 96 to 180. 

This may justly be considered the happiest period of the E-oman Em- 
pire : a succession of able and virtuous Princes consolidated its dominion. 

Trajan conquered Dacia, and, contrary to Augustus' advice, made it a 
Roman Province. Great numbers of Roman citizens were settled there, 
and the Latin language introduced by them exists there up to this moment, 
as the language of the peasants of Hungary and Wallachia. On the bridge 
over the Danube, see Arrowsmith, XV. 5. One cannot help regretting that 
the splendid reigns of this Emperor, of Adrian, and the Antonines are 
tarnished by the peculiar persecutions of the Christians. More particu- 
larly painful is it to think, that the first Emperor who sanctioned such 
cruelties by law was Trajan, and that the first magistrate who put the law 
in force was the younger Pliny. Pliny's letter and the Emperor's rescript 
are both extant. 

Hadi^ian's name is peculiarly interesting to Englishmen, as he built the 
great rampart now called "the Pict's wall." {Arrowsmith^ VI. 11.) 



Third Period, to Constantine the Great, A. D. 337. 

Tliis period of about 150 years is almost a continued series of internal 
strife and disunion. It is difficult even to enumerate the succession of 
Emperors; at one tiine there were 19 fighting for the throne. The pres- 
sure of foreign tribes upon the frontiers began to be felt ; the corruption 
of morals, arts, and literature, was rapidly proceeding ; and it seems prob- 
able that the Empire would have tumbled to pieces at the end of the 
Third Century, but for the great men- who then rose to the Purple. 

^eymf-s was one of these, {Arrowsmith, VI. II.) He was successful 
in his wars with the Persian Artaxerxes, the founder of the Sassanid Dyn- 
asty {Lect. ' Persia' and Arrowstnith, XXIV. 2, end.) He died at York 
A. D. 21 1. " Omnia fui, et nihil expedit." 

HeliogahaJus, (a monster,) A. D. 222; was originally a priest of the Sun. 

Philip celebrates the 1000th Anniversary of Rome, A. D. 248. 

Decius begins a cruel persecution of the Christians. Great invasion of 
Goths (not Getse,) one of the great tribes of the Japetic family of lan- 
guages, overran Meesia and Dacia ; and when Decius was slain, his suc- 
cessor Gallus paid tribute to them. They ravage Bithynia, ^gean isles, 
Athens. {Arrowsmith, VIII. 15.) 

Aurelian, {' Restitutor orbis,') a great man. This was an epoch of re- 
newed greatness under the powerful and able rule of Aurelian, Tacitus, 
Probus, Diocletian, for nearly 40 years. See ' Zenobia' {Lempriere.) 
Probus built the famous rampart of the Decumates Agri, {Arrowsmith, 
VIII. 32.) 

Diocletian cruelly persecutes the Christians. At this time the Empire 
was first divided among four Caesars, afterwards six, — which paved the 



LECTURE VIII. ROMAN EMPIRE, PT. II. 



61 



way for its ultimate division. The last triumph Rome ever saw was that 
of Diocletian and Galerius, A. D. 300. He abdicates, and lives at Spala- 
tum (Spalatro.) The decay of art is very remarkable in the remains of 
his palace at Salonee, and his prodigious baths in Rome, as also in Con- 
stantine's Arch. {Arrowsmiih, Chap. IX. 22.) 

Constantine the Great. (*^Hoc signo vinces." The ' Labarum,'* Lem- 
priere.) He committed the same mistake as Augustus, in not legahzing 
hereditary succession : he re-acted the story of Theseus and Hippoly- 
tus, being persuaded by his wife to murder his eldest son ; and committed 
the same mistake, of subdividing his Empire, that Charlemagne, Charles V. 
of Spain, Theodosius, and Dmitri in Russia did. (Lect. XVI.) His conver- 
sion to real Christianity is very doubtful. He supported it and Paganism 
alike, and some of his medals represent on one side the Christian Em- 
blem, on the reverse the Emperor as Pontifex Maximus. So at one time 
he supported the Catholics — at another the Arians. He founds Constan- 
tinople (Byzantium ;) called it New Rome. Rome had gradually been 
deserted by the Emperors for 40 years. His support firmly established 
Christianity. The moment liberty was granted to the Church, Paganism 
crumbled to pieces. In this 3rd period of 150 years, 41 Emperors were 
murdered. At this time Christianity had extended over ah the Roman 
Empire, and far beyond it ; even Gibbon supposes a full twentieth of the 
Empire were Christians. There were 1800 Bishoprics; the first great 
council met at Nice, A. D. 325. 

[N. B. The History of the Church up to this time will be treated of in 
a separate Lecture. ] 

Fourth Period. From Constantine, A. D. 337, to Odoacer, 

A. D. 476. 

This period exhibits the dissolution of the Western Empire, the utter 
extinction of all Roman virtue and spirit, helpless apathy of the people, 
unavaihng resistance to the pressure of foreign nations on every side of 
the Empire. It is a great epoch in the History of the World. The 
unity of this great Empire was maintained by God's Providence, until 
Christianity was immoveably rooted. Then came the great Migration of 
Nations, pushing onwards incessantly from the remotest East, broke up 
the rotten fabrick, brought in a rude energy and vigour, which Christianity 
tempered, and laid the foundations of aU the great Christian Kingdoms of 
Modern Em^ope. There is very httle to lament in the subversion of the 
Roman Empire. 

The principal persons and actions of this period were, — Julian the 
Apostate : he endeavoured with little success to restore Paganism : He 
guarded against persecution, but did all he could to reduce the splendour 
of the Christian worship. The emblem of Christ erased from the Laba- 
rum : attempts to rebuild Jerusalem. {See WaddingtovJ s Church History.) 
His terrible defeat near the Euphrates by Sapor, and his disastrous retreat 
and death, resemble in a remarkable degree the retreat and destruction of 
the British Army from Cabul. {Gibbon, Chap. XXIV.) A great Gothic 



62 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



confederation {Cf. Guisoty Essai 2. p. 41. sur V Hist, de la France,) was 
established about this time, A. D. 350 — 400, by Hermannric, in the centre 
of Europe, from the Baltic to the Danube, from the Don to the Theiss : 
the Alani farther East : the Huns farther still, (have nothing to do with the 
name of Hungary, see Lect. II. fin.) This last nation of Barbarians, 
pushing onwards, broke up the Alani and Goths, A. D. 375. The Goths 
divided — Weise Cwhite)- Goths, and Ostro-Goths. {See Arrowsmith, VIII. 
16.) 

Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, expels Theodosius from the Cathedral, 
for his crimes, A. D. 383. {Church Homily, *' On the right use of the 
Church, Pt. 2.") 

The final division of the Empire into two parts took place 395 A. D.; 
when Arcadius succeeded to the Eastern, Honorius to the Western portion 
of their Father Theodosius' Empire. 

Alaric, King of Visi-Goths, sacks Rome, A. D. 410. Simultaneous 
irruptions into Spain, Gaul, and Britain. 

The Vandals made an irruption into Africa under the terrible Genseric, 
A. D. 429. 

Attila, King of the Huns, ("the scourge of God,") A.D. 433, to A.D. 
453. "Europam conrasit." Rome thrice pillaged by Attila, Genseric, Rici- 
mer. Twenty years of afiliction : Romulus Augustulus (remarkable names, 
see Lect. VI. on Sparta,) the last Emperor of the West, deposed by the 
barbarian Odoacer. The Senate formally abolish the imperial succession, 
and constitute Italy a diocese of the Eastern Emperor, A. D. 476. 

It is generally said that slavery was the devouring cancer that destroyed 
the Roman Empire. Yet slavery existed quite as much in the most 
flourishing period of the Republic, as in the decay of the Empire ; — in the 
days of Scipio and Cato, as in those of Constantine and Honorius. Remem- 
ber for instance the Servile war. It was not therefore slavery, but accord- 
ing to Pliny's just remark "Verum confitentibus latifundia perdidere 
Italiam." The free race of Italian cultivators had disappeared, before the 
fleets that wafted cheaper grain from the Nile to the Tiber. Thence the 
impoverishing of the small freeholders, the absorption of all the little pro- 
perties by the great families. So rich was the capital ( and yet so poor at 
the other extreme,) when it fell before Alaric, that it contained 1 750 great 
families, whose estates in pasturage, according to Ammianus Marcellinus, 
yielded ^61 60,000 annual rent each. 

Guizot has some striking remarks, in his Essai sur V Histoire de la 
France, upon the downfall of Rome owing to the extinction of the middle 
class {p. 7.) and the unlimited privileges of the richer families, in his ac- 
count of the municipal Regime of Rome. He Quarks three epochs of this 
system. 1st. Extending to Nerva's reign, beiiig a real ezmZ liberty granted 
to the allies, and a right of suflrage at the comitia, which distinguished 
the municipia from colonice and pr(Efecturce . 2nd. Extending to Diocle- 
tian, during which time the provinces had lost all political rights, which 
were concentrated at Rome, and so their whole attention and energies 
were bent upon their own local and municipal government. 3rd. Down 
to the Fall of the Western Empire, during which time very heavy burdens 
were imposed upon the middle classes, while the Senators, officers of the 
Palace, Clergy, and National-guard were privileged and exempt, — an exact 



LECTURE VIII. ROMAN EMPIRE, PT. II. 63 

counterpart of the state of France in Louis XVth's time, just before the 
French Revolution. 

This municipal regime passed into an ecclesiastical Municipium, as 
with the Visi- Goths in Spain, and thence into the Communes of the Medi- 
aeval Period. 



Map of Europe, with the boundaries of the Roman Empire coloured. 



LECTURE IX. 



HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, 

(or Fifth Empire, Dan. ii. 44, 45.) 
Down to the Conversion of Constantine. 

[N. B. Dr. Burton's Chronology is followed.'] 



Geography. 

Under this head it is intended to trace out onlt/ St. Paul's Journeys, — 
vis. his three Missions recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, and his voy- 
age as prisoner from Csesarea to Rome. 

First Mission, A. D. 45, 46. Acts xiii. 1, to xiv. 26. 

From Antioch in Syria, to Seleucia ad Mare, Salamis in Cyprus, Paphos, 
Perga in Pamphylia, Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe in Ly- 
caonia. Back from Derbe to Lystra, Iconium, through Pisidia to Perga 
in Pamphylia, down to Attaha on the Sea coast, and thence home to 
Antioch. 

Second Mission, A. D. 46—48. Acts xv. 36, to xviii. 32. 

From Antioch, through Syria and Cihcia, holding a Confirmation^ to 
Derbe, Lystra, through Phrygia and Galatia : thence again along the N. 
of Phrygia, into Mysia, to Troas, where S. Luke joins him, to Samothrace 
I., Neapolis, Philippi, Amphipolis, Apollonia, Thessalonica. [The Via 
Egnatia ran along these five last places.] Bersea, Athens, Corinth, Cen- 
chreae. Sailed to Syria, touching at Ephesus : thence sailed to Csesarea, 
went up and saluted the Church at Jerusalem, and thence to Antioch. 

Third Mission, A. D. 48—53. Acts xviii. 23, to xxi. 15. 

From Antioch, " over the country of Galatia and Phrygia," to Ephesus, 
(two years stay, ending with ' the uproar,') Macedonia, Corinth, back 
through Macedonia, to Philippi, sailed to Troas, on foot to Assos, sailed 



LECTURE IX. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 



65 



to Miiylene, passed by Chios, and Samos, stopped at Trogyllium, thence 
to Miletus, (sent for Ephesian Elders ;) thence to Cos, Rhodes, Patara, 
Tyre, Ptolemais, Caesarea, Jerusalem. There he was assaulted in the tem- 
ple, rescued by the Roman Officer, and sent to Felix, at Caesarea ; kept 
there two years as a prisoner, then pleads before Festus, and appeals to 
Caesar. 

Voyage as a Prisoner to Italy y A. D. 55. 

From Caesarea to Sidon, under Cyprus," (^. e. on the S. E., but keep- 
ing Cyprus on the left, and doubling the E. Cape,) along the S. of Cilicia 
and Pamphylia, to Myra, a city of Lycia. Changed their ship there, and 
started in an Alexandrine vessel for Italy ; a contrary wind, and a slow 
passage to Cnidus ; obliged by the wind to sail Southwards to Crete, and 
hardly weathering the E. Cape, Salmone, got under shelter of the Island, 
and reached " Fair Harbour," on the S. It was now getting late in the 
season, and saihng was dangerous, the Fast being past," {i. e. the Great 
Day of Atonement, on the 10th day of Tisri, the first month of the Civil, 
the Seventh month of the Ecclesiastical year, about our Michaelmas Day.) 
In vain Paul warned the Centurion Jidius of the danger : they were sailing 
away under Crete to Phcenix Ps. when the Euroclydon, (a hurricane which 
blows from all points of the compass in those seas,) made them run back 
under Clauda Ins., and fearing lest they should be driven out of their 
course upon a quicksand, they struck sad, and were tossed about for 14 
days, till at last they found themselves in the Adria, and were wrecked 
upon Melite ; and after three months' stay on the Island, they departed 
in another Alexandrine vessel, landed at Syracuse, thence to Rhegium, Pu- 
teoU, and Rome. 

See J. Bryant, vol. V. on the I. of Melite, not Malta — butMeleda in the 
Gulf of Venice. 

Firstly. For EvpoKXvbav, the Alexandrine Ms. and Vulgate (St. Jerome's 
Translation,) have " EvpaKvXcov, Euroaquilo/* which Bentley and others 
interpret to be the wind KaiKias, E. N. E. but the wind is said by St. Luke 
to have blown the ship kut avrrjs (upon the Island, Crete,) under which 
they were sailing. The wind must therefore have come from the S. or 
S. E. which will suit with the common reading, the hurricane Euroclydon 
— but is just the contrary direction to what the KaiKias would blow it. 

2ndly. With regard to the Island. 

Certainly there is a Tradition of long standing, that Malta was the 
Island. And it was supposed that by the word ^vpnv must be meant the 
African Syrtes. 

The words tottos didaKaa-aos (into which the ship is run at last) are sup- 
posed by Bochart to mean an isthmus (like Corinth); which exactly corres- 
ponds with the Ala di S. Paolo at Malta. 

Again, St. Luke calls the Governor nparos, and there is an inscription at 
Malta which calls Prudens " Trpcoros MiKiTaicov koI ravXav, which has made 
Bochart suppose that the word nparos was peculiarly the name of the 
Roman Procurator of Malta. 

K 



66 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



The Illyrian Melite was a wretchedly poor place, unqualified to support 
276 men for three months ; and being so near Epidaurus, Julius the Cen- 
turion would have undoubtedly taken them to this latter place. 

Now with regard to these reasons, the first is the only one of weight. 

The men could not be said to be (po^ovfxevot fjLrj iKTriaaicnv els "SivpriVf 

meaning the African Syrtes, because they were under Clauda, i. e. 300 
miles from the Greater, and 600 from the Less ; which latter would not be 
very much out of their way, and could hardly be called eWeo-elf. This 
Syrtes meant a quicksand near Clauda Ins. 

The words rorros di6. better agree with a harbour (hke VirgiVs, Mn. III. 
533, — ' Portus ab Eoo fluctu curvatur in arcum,' &c. — and Horn. Od. X. 
87,) than an Isthmus like Corinth. Observe the word TvepiiveaovTes. Now 
there is just such a bay at Meleda. 

The Roman Governor at Malta was not called by a different name from 
the others, for, in a Latin Inscription at Malta, Chrestion is called Procu- 
rator, which St. Luke has translated Trpa>ros. 

That Meleda was so destitute an island is supported by no facts, and 
certainly it would seem to be much more probable a Centurion would keep 
276 men in a barren island, than let them run loose at Epidaurus for 3 
months. Besides, the destitution of the island would better accord with 
the fact that it was occupied by Barbarians, than that Malta was ; which 
Diodorus (V. 12.) distinctly tells us was a flourishing colony, inhabited by 
Carthaginians, Greeks, and Romans. Besides, there are no serpents in 
Malta, and, from the character of the rock, probably never could have 
been any ; and the Euroclydon blew away from Malta, and towards Meleda. 

In addition to these negative arguments, there is some positive evidence 
in favour of Meleda. 

The fact that S. Luke distinctly calls the sea (in which the I. lay) 
* Adria,' and all the writers of repute, (such as Diodorus, Polybius, Strabo, 
Pliny, and Pomponius Mela,) nearly or quite cotemporary of St. Luke, 
agree in restricting * Adria' to the present limits of the Gulf of Venice. 
The opposite authorities are poets, or writers of later and doubtful au- 
thority. 

No copies of the Vulgate have Melite, they all have Mitylene or Myti- 
lene. Now another name of the I. Meleda in G. of Venice was MeXirlvr]. 

The following narratives of the voyage of two vessels — (going in the 
same direction, and in one case meeting with a very similar disaster,) will 
serve to show the usual course from Egypt, and Judea. The first is taken 
from Lucian's Dialogue ''Ukoiov rj Euxat." — 

The ship sets sail from the Nile, and within 7 days reached Acamas, 
W. promontory of Cyprus : here the wind blew in their teeth, and they 
ran back obliquely to Sidon, and thence (hke St. Paul) under Pamphylia, 
Lycia, Cnidus ; and then steered for Athens, instead of holding their 
course on to Italy, for (says one of the passengers) if they had gone on to 
Italy, they would have run close under Crete, thence to Malea Prom, 
and so to Italy," — [Compare (in Virgil) jEneas' course from Troy to 
Italy.] 

2ndly. (Josephus, XIV. 14.) Herod goes from Alexandria to Rome, 
sails under Pamphylia, is caught in a storm, throws his freight over- 



LECTURE IX. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 



67 



board, and gets to Rhodes ; and from thence takes another vessel to 
Brundusium. 

Against all this evidence the traditions of Malta can hardly prepon- 
derate. {See also Coleridge s Table Talk, p. 186, who is very strong in 
favour of Meleda.) 

History. 

{Daniel, II. 44.) Before the Roman Empire gained the ascendancy, we 
find the ancient world broken up into a number of independent tribes, 
each having i^^ own political and religious institutions. But Rome had 
crushed the independence of nations, and the feeling of self-existence. 
Mankind had just began to be conscious of the common bonds which unite 
them, when the last and greatest Empire arose, which alone could satisfy 
their longings for Unity and Brotherhood, — '* The One Catholic and 
Apostolic Church." {Cf. Rankes History of the Popes, p. 1.) 

The other Empires had prepared the way for this. Alexander the Great 
had spread the Greek language throughout the East. One language, the 
Latin, prevailed through the West. {Lect. VIII.) The other Empires had 
been set up by force, and the power of the sword. Three special marks 
are mentioned by Daniel, as distinguishing this ; — that in its rise it should 
be imperceptible ; in its extent, unbounded ; in its duration, endless. (Cf. 
TFilberforce's Five Empires.) 

The Kingdom of Christ may be said to date its beginning from the time 
when its Head rose from the grave, gave the commission to his Apostles 
(John XX. V. 21,) and confirmed that commission on the Day of Pente- 
cost. Up to that time it was said by St. John the Baptist, {Matth. III. 
2,) by our Lord Himself, {Matth. IV. 17,) and the Seventy Disciples, 
{Matth. X. 7,) ' to be at hand.' 

It may be advisable to state, that the Church did not begin to date from 
* Anno Domini' till the year A. D. 532, when Dionysius, an abbot, fixed 
the Common Era, which we use, but which is probably 4 years short of 
the real time. 

The Nativity must precede the death of Herod. 

Herod was made king of Palestine A. U. C. 714, B. C. 40. But he did 
not obtain possession of it till B. C. 37. In that year, on the day of the 
Fast, (10 Tisri=4th Oct.) he took Jerusalem by siege, and this is the 
actual epoch of Herod's reign. But it is the practice of Jewish writers to 
date the years of their Kings from the Ecclesiastical year in which the 
epoch occurred. So that Herod's date is given as 1 Nisan (April,) B. C. 37. 

Now Josephus says that Herod reigned 34 years from the taking of 
Jerusalem by Antigonus. If the years were complete, they would end 
4th Oct. B. C. 3 ; if current, any time between 1 Nisan, B. C. 4, and 3. 
Josephus does not define the year by the Roman Consuls, and the portion 
of Dion Cassius on this period is mutilated. Yet we can nearly fix the 
date by the fact of Josephus having defined the death-year of Herod as that 
of an eclipse of the moon, which is easily proved to have taken place 
between the 12th and 13th of March, B. C. 4. That was the only eclipse 
of the year, and there was none in B. C. 3. 

k2 



68 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY, 



It is further evident from Josephus that his death took place just before 
a passover, therefore it was about a week before the passover of B. C. 4. 

Besides, this date tallies with the calculation made respecting the time 
the class of Abiah would be serving. Luke I. 5, arid 1 Chron, XXIV. 

We know from the Mishna {Gresley, Bissertat. I. 383,) that on the 
very day of the burning of the Temple, A. D. 70, the cycle had com- 
menced afresh with the class Joiarib, and by calculations it is shown that 
the 8th course (Abiah) was entering office on Sat. Sept. 2nd, B. C. 5, and 
2nd Oct. B. C. 6, a very remarkable day in the Week of Tabernacles of 
that year. (In this case we should see the great force of Luke I. 10.) This 
date for the vision nearly coincides with S. Chrysostom^s tradition, that 
the date of the vision was the 10th Tisri. 

If to these dates we add the period of 14 months and some days, by 
which the Vision preceded the Nativity, we find some day in December, 
B. C. 5, for the nativity, which date agrees well with our Lord*s age at 
His Baptism in A. D. 28, comes nearest to the accounts of the Early 
Fathers, is derived from a very probable date of Zacharias' Vision, and is 
perfectly in accordance with all other historical events connected with the 
time. 

First Century. 

St. Stephen's Martyrdom gives us occasion to remark, that the Jews 
had not lost the power of inflicting capital punishment for religious of- 
fences, and probably therefore the time alone (during the Passover) occa- 
sioned our Lord's trial before the Roman Procurator. Phihp the Deacon's 
conversion of the Samaritans and the Ethiopian Eunuch leads to a 
remark upon the gradual mode in which the Jewish prejudices were got 
over, in some degree, with regard to the admission of the whole world to 
the Church of God. 

Firstly y what we call * the Dissenters'' from the Jewish Church, i, e. the 
Samaritans, were admitted. 2ndly. The Eunuch proselyte of righteous- 
ness, (for they were forbidden to enter the Jewish Congregation.) 2>rdly. 
Cornelius the Centurion, a Proselyte of the Gate. Athly. A Gentile Idolater. 
{Ads, XIII. 7. 12.) 

The First Council was held A. D. 46, at Jerusalem, when the question 
was fully discussed, whether the Gentiles should observe the Jewish Law 
or not, and was distinctly answered in the negative. That the Christian 
Jews observed the Ceremonial Law (except where there was any danger of 
the Gospel doctrine being obscured by it,) as long as the Temple stood, is 
clear from St. Paul's conduct. {Acts, XVI. 3. XVIII. 18. XXI. 26.) 

St. James, the Bishop of Jerusalem, was put to death A. D. 62, and 
his place supplied by his brother Simeon, who led out the Christians to 
Pella, when Jerusalem was invested by the Romans. His Church rather 
fell away from the purity of the Gospel, and maintained Jewish customs, 
after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus A. D, 72 ; and were called 
specially the Nazarenes, Before this event, St. Paul had preached the 
Gospel to every part of the Roman Empire {Col. I. 6. 23,) according to 



LECTURE IX. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 



69 



Prophecy (Matth. XXIV. 14.) [On St. James the Bishop, compare Jets 
I. 13, with Gal. I. 18. Acts IX 27, in the Greek. It is most probable 
that he was not one of the twelve Apostles. See MarshaWs Episcopal 
Folity of the Church, pp. 29 — 45, and 109.] 

St. Paul is said to have travelled to the extreme West after his release 
from imprisonment at Rome, A. D. 58, — perhaps to Britain. Both he 
and St. Peter suffered martyrdom at Rome, A. D. 68, in the first great and 
systematic persecution by Nero. {Lect. VIII.) Linus, the first Pope of 
Rome, suffered also. (2 Tim. IV. 21.) 

St. John is supposed to have dwelt at Ephesus all the latter part of his 
life. He was sent to Rome, and is said by Tertullian and St. Jerome to 
have been thrown into a vessel of boihng oil, from which he came out un- 
hurt. [Prayer Book Calendar, May ^th.'] He was banished to Patmos 
Ins. by Domitian, and remained there till 96 A. D. when Nerva succeeded 
the Tyrant, and recalled the Exiles. The Revelations were written there, 
and his Gospel and Epistles were probably written between his return and 
his death, about 98 A. D. They are supposed to have been specially di- 
rected against the errors of certain heretics, called Gnostics, and Cerin- 
thians. There was not much difference in the opinions of these sects, as 
they both denied the reahty of the Death of Christ. Simon Magus was 
the great teacher of Gnostic doctrine, " that Christ was an Mon (ai'wi/) or 
angel sent from God.'' The difference (if any) was more in practice than 
doctrine, as the Cerinthians lived very immoral lives, — the Gnostics were 
rather ascetics. The Epistle of Clemens Romanus (Philipp. IV. 3.) is the 
only undoubtedly genuine work of the first century, besides the Scrip- 
tures, that has come down to us. It is said, that, before St. John's death, 
all the books that are now contained in the New Testament were collected 
into one volume, and received his authoritative sanction. 



Second Century, 

This Century opened with the persecution of the Church in Trajan's 
reign. That prince, though conspicuous for many good quahties, must 
bear the guilt of setting the example of persecution, which many of his 
successors more unsparingly practiced ; — Adrian, the Antonines, Verus, 
and Commodus. 

A. D. 104, Symeon, Bishop of Jerusalem, was crucified, at the great 
age of 120. The cause of it was remarkable : He was said to be descended 
from the Royal race of David, and Trajan was jealous of him as a com- 
petitor. 

Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, was martyred A. D. 107. He was sent 
from Antioch, to be exposed to the beasts in the Amphitheatre at Rome, 
and in his progress thither visited and strengthened the Churches^ — among 
others, Polycarp's at Smyrna. (See Marshall, p. 80 — 83, and 144.) 

The progress of Christianity, A. D. 1 1 1, is attested by Phny in his letter 
to Trajan. He says — "Vicos et agros contagio pervagata est ; prope jam 
desolata templa ; sacra solennia diu intermissa ; victimarum rarissimus 
emptor," etc. (This most interesting and remarkable document may be 
seen in Plin. Epist, lib. 97.) 



70 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



A. D. 115. There was a general rebellion of the Jews in Mesopotamia, 
Cyrene, and Cyprus, under Bar-Chochebas, who declared he was the Mes- 
siah. {Matth. XXIV. 5. Mark XIII. 22.) And as the Jews were con- 
founded with the Christians, it was the cause of great affliction to them, 
-^lia Capitolina built. \Arrowsmith, XXI. 24.) 

A. D. 118. to A. D. 138. These 20 years of Hadrian's reign were 
marked by a decided progress in Christianity, though the Emperor did not 
favour it. On any public rejoicings, the populace were instigated to per- 
secute the Christians, and to demand them as victims to the wild beasts in 
the Circus ; and accused them of Atheism. 

Justin Martyr writes against the Jews, A.D. 148. They were the invete- 
rate opponents of Christianity, as we see continually in the Acts of the 
Apostles— WW. 45. XIV. 2, 19. XVII. 5, 13. XVIII. 12. XIX. 9. 

A. D. 158. Polycarp went to Rome, to confer with Anicetus concerning 
the time of keeping Easter. (This Quarto-deciman question was not 
settled till the Council of Nice, A. D. 325, and must not be confounded 
with the subject of controversy that afterwards occurred between the 
British Church and St. Augustine, whether Easter should be kept on the 
Sunday the new moon fell on, or the Sunday after.) 

A. D. 167. Martyrdom of Polycarp, St. John's disciple. He was burnt 
at Smyrna at a great age. Many forgeries of false Gospels were prevalent 
at this time : they were the work of the Gnostics, Ebionites, and other 
heretics, for the support of their own opinions. Almost all the heresy of 
this age had its origin in Alexandria. {Appendix to SewelVs Plato.) 

A. D. 177. Great persecutions in Vienne and Lyons. Astonishing firm- 
ness of Christians ; even children are said to have borne tortures with sur- 
prising constancy ; {Collect for Innocents' Day.) Irenseus, Bishop of 
Lyons. 

A. D. 181. Panteenus preaches to the Indians : it is said St. Bartholo- 
mew the Apostle had been there. It is very interesting to see distant 
Churches sending letters of comfort and exhortation to one another in their 
afflictions, from Asia to Gaul. 

The Apostles' Creed (so called) was gradually enlarged from smaller be- 
ginnings, as points became contested by Schismatics, and was now in 
general use. [Compare Archdn. Manning's Oxford University Sermons, 1 844, 
Sermon V., with Dr. Mill's Camb. Univ. Sermons on the Temptation^'''' 
Serm 1. 1844, respecting the mind of the Church expressing itself in 
Creeds.] Festivals were instituted. Councils of Bishops from various 
Churches met. Many sects arose, but left not much impression ; chiefly 
at Alexandria, from mixing Eastern Philosophy and the subtleties of Pla- 
tonism with Christianity. " The first Christians had more piety than 
curiosity." Monachism arose in Egypt, Ascetics (ao-/<e<»,) Anchorites 
(dvaxa>pr]Tai,) Tlicrapeutae. 

Third Century. 

This century, like the last, opened with persecutions, A.D. 202, to 211. 
Severus issued an edict, that none should embrace Christianity, and the 
Christians should hold no meetings. (For Abgarus, King of Edessa, see Lem- 



LECTURE IX. — HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 



71 



priere.) The persecutions raged chiefly in Egypt, and fell upon Carthage, 
now a flourishing Church. A. D. 204, the celebration of secular games at 
Rome, as usual, brought sufiering upon the Christians. Many Christians 
believed the world was commg to an end, and that God would no longer 
sufier His Church to be so distressed. The whole reign of Severus was 
most disastrous. 

Origen, a prodigy of industry and learning (xakKivrepos,) greatly aided 
the dissemination of Christianity by his writings, and translations of the 
Scriptures. 

Caracalla died A. D. 217, a monster of depravity, and was worshipped 
as a God by those who had persecuted the religion of the Christians. 

A. D. 219. Heliogabalus established the worship of the sun. 

A. D. 222. Alexander Severus favoured the Christians and Jews ; and 
dm'ing 20 years the Church enjoyed repose, and increased greatly. The 
literature of the age has no merit, except in the writings of the Christians. 
Origen had no rival in this century. A. D. 235, the reign of the tyrant 
Maximinus was characterized by a ferocious persecution of the Church. 

The reigns of the Gordians and Phihp, A. D. 237, to A. D. 249, was a 
period of peace and prosperity. There had been now, with not much in- 
terruption, 38 years of comparative rest ; and it was remarked, that cor- 
ruption of manners was in consequence creeping in among the Bishops and 
Clergy. But a storm was now bursting upon them, such as had never 
before been experienced, which soon restored the Church's purity. A. D. 
253, Decius commenced a dreadful persecution, which raged throughout 
the Empire with more or less severity, according to the disposition of the 
Magistrates, for nearly 1 1 years. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, a great 
and able man, and a pillar of the Church in this age, received the crown 
of martyrdom with heroic constancy, A. D. 258. {Marshall^ p. 221.) 

The irruption of the Goths about this time contributed to the spread of 
Christianity. {St. August, de Civit. Dei, init.) The Goths, in the fol- 
lowing century, sent a Bishop to the Council at Nice : the. Goths had no 
written language. Ulphilas framed an Alphabet of Greek and Latin 
characters, and translated the Scriptures for them. A Translation from 
Ulphilas into Frankish, between 567, A.D. and 584, (the reign of Chil- 
beric) is still extant in the Library of Upsal. {Saturday Mag. 606.) 

In the latter part of this century, from A. D. 260, during the reigns of 
Aurehan, Tacitus, Probus, Carus, the Church was generally free from per- 
secution, and in consequence prevailed greatly. 

Diocletian came to the throne, A. D. 285. It was probable that he was 
averse to extreme measures against the Christians, but was urged on by 
his unfeehng colleague Galerius. Some decrees against the Christians, 
A. D. 298, close this century. 

The extension of Christianity in this century was very great, both in and 
out of the Empire. All ranks and professions contained Christians : it grew 
while men slept, they knew not how, (Mark IV. 26.) without violence, 
quietly and inoff'ensively ; and it was everywhere. The Bishop of Rome 
seems to have enjoyed a primacy of respect, as being the Bishop of the 
Capital of the Empire, and in an ApostoHcal Church, but had no power 
over others. 



72 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



Fourth Century, (to constantine the great.) 

This century, like the two preceding, opened with persecution and 
trouble to the Church, and in a greater degree than at any previous 
time. It has been usually called ' the Diocletian persecution,' though in 
fact it was much more the deed of his cruel colleague Galerius. 

A. D. 303. An edict was issued, that Churches should be pulled down, 
all books of Christians burnt, and that they should be compelled to offer 
sacrifice to the Pagan Gods, on pain of death : thousands were burnt, be- 
headed, drowned, given to wild beasts, mutilated. The two Emperors, 
from the palace at Nicomedia, were eye-witnesses of the beginning of these 
atrocities ! They lasted for eight years, until Galerius, tormented by con- 
science, and consumed by disease, put a stop to them, A. D. 311. In the 
East, under Maximinus, a cruel tyrant, it was terrible ; but in the West, 
Constantius, (father of Constantine the Great,) neglected, or coldly executed 
the edict. Eusebius, who hved in these times, has given us accounts that 
almost exceed belief, of the torments endured by the Christians. Many 
fled beyond the Hmits of the Empire, among the barbarians, and carried 
Christianity with them. Persecution invariably had the effect of spreading 
Christianity wider. {Acts, VIII . 1 .) There arose dissensions after the 
persecution, concerning the lapsed (those whose courage failed under tor- 
ture) and the traditores. It must be lamented, that these unfortunate 
persons were treated with great contumely and arrogance by the Con- 
fessors. 

A. D. 312. Constantine defeated Maxentius near Rome. 

A. D. 313. Edict of Milan: perfect toleration of Christianity: Maxi- 
minus defeated and slain. This last fiery trial, while it increased greatly 
the noble army of Martyrs,'* purified the Church, and at no previous 
time was the Church more pure and vigorous than now. Maximin himself 
declared that the whole world had abandoned the Pagan Gods, and gone 
over to the Christians. There have been 10 special Persecutions noted 
before this establishment of Christianity : — 



1st 


Nero's A. D. 


64 


6th 


Severus A. D. 


202 


2nd 


Domitian's 


95 


7th 


Maximinus . » 


235 


3rd 


Trajan's 


107 


8th 


Decius 


250 


4th 


Hadrian's 


125 


9th 


Valerius 


257 


5tli 


M. Aurelius' 


166 


10th 


Diocletian 


303 



Though the Conversion of Constantine aided the cause of the Chris- 
tians, yet it was as much the ej^ect as the cause of its progress. Under 
any circumstances, the establishment of Christianity as the National Reli- 
gion could not have been long delayed. 



St. Paul's First Journey to be marked on the map by a Red line, — the 2nd by a 
Blue, — 3rd by a Yellow. Voyage to Rome by a Green line. (Consider Melite in the 
Gulf of Venice to be the Island mentioned.) 



LECTURE X. 



MODERN HISTORY, (1st Lecture.) 

From the fall of the Western Empire, to Charlemagne ; 
476 A. D. to 800 A. D. 



Tlie object of all History seems to be, a record of those means by which 
man is restored to the lost image of God, — the image of Holiness in Indi- 
viduals, of XJ7iity in Nations. (Coloss. III. 10, 11.) Immediately upon the 
fall of Man, and especially at Babel, followed Disunion ; and ancient His- 
tory (as we have seen in the preceding Lectures,) is a record of the vain 
and transient efforts of unregenerate man to reunite the world. But it 
was only outward unity ; it was held together by no bond but that of the 
strong arm. Modern History describes the work of the Church of Christ 
towards the accomplishment of an inward, as well as outward Unity, 
through and under an Invisible Head. We learn this Truth from the Old 
and New Testament. The Old teaches it by the Typical Unity and Per- 
sonality of the Jewish Nation : The New by the day of Pentecost, and by 
direct statement, for which the XVIIth Chapter of St. John will suffice. 

The feeling of the Unity of the Church was the predominating idea of 
the early Christians. All Christians were one, because, through one out- 
ward instrument, the Church, they participated in our Lord's Spiritual 
Presence. They described it as one great nation, inheriting the name and 
promises of ancient Israel ; they looked at it as the one Kingdom, which 
was to prevail among nations, and yet not to interfere with worldly 
sovereignty."* 

Modern History therefore properly commences with the Christian ^ra, 
because from that period a totally new element was introduced into the 
world, and began to modify all the habits of thought, and forms of 
society : but as the " leaven was hid in the meaV for the first century or 
two, it has been more usual to draw the imaginary Hne at the Fall of the 
Western Empire. 

We propose first to relate the chief political events and revolutions that 
affected Europe, previous to the establishment of Charlemagne's Empire, 
and then to see how the Church did her work in uniting them, and gather- 
ing them up into herself. 

We have seen, in the previous Lectures, how the Roman Empire 
was divided into Eastern and Western, and how the Western Empire was 
over-run successively by the Goths under Alaric, A. D. 410, the Yandals 



* WUberforce's Five Empires, pp. 152, 171, 182, 183. Manning on the Unity of the Church. 

L 



74 ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 

under Genseric, A. D. 429, the Huns under Attila, A. D. 433, and the 
Heruli under Odoacer, who deposed Augustulus, and broke up the Western 
Empire, A. D. 476. This barbarian preserved as much as possible the 
ancient Institutions of the Empire ; but his dynasty soon yielded to Theo- 
doric, king of the Ostrogoths, who had been educated, as a hostage, at 
Constantinople, and to whom Zeno the Eastern Emperor gave Italy as a 
kingdom. Accordingly he and his whole nation of Ostrogoths migrated 
from Pannonia, defeated Odoacer in two pitched hattles on the borders of 
Italy, besieged him in Ravenna, finally took him, and put him to death 
in the 3rd year of the siege. Thus Theodoric established the kingdom of 
the Goths in Italy, A. D. 493. It comprised Italy, Sicily, Suabia, the two 
Rhsetias, Dalmatia, Noricum, Pannonia, Provence, the province of Nar- 
bonne, and part of Aquitaine ; and he took the kingdom of the Visigoths 
in Spain under his protection. He retained all the ancient usages of the 
Roman Empire. He and his Goths had received Christianity according to 
the heretical doctrine of Arius, and history tells us how soon all the 
Arian nations passed away, and were not permitted to exercise any lasting- 
influence upon Europe.* This kingdom subsisted only 60 years. Theodoric, 
having reigned 33 years, at his death bequeathed his kingdom to his grand- 
son Athalaric, who died in his minority. The mother of Athalaric (Amala- 
swinde, the daughter of Theodoric) thereupon raised her cousin Theudat 
to a share of the regency with herself, and he put her to death. This act 
of violence furnished a pretext to Justinian, the Emperor of the East, for 
interfering in the affairs of Italy. He ordered his famous general Belisa- 
rius to avenge the cause of Amalaswinde ; and Theudat was dethroned in 
536, A. D.: but another king, Vitiges, was elected by the Goths in his stead, 
who called in 10,000 Franks from Burgundy, to aid him against the Em- 
pire ; but, after some success, he was led captive by Belisarius to Con- 
stantinople. Once more, however, the Gothic kingdom flourished awhile, 
under the humane and heroic Totila, 540 A. D. Court intrigue had re- 
called Belisarius to Constantinople, of whom Gibbon says that his patience 
and loyalty were either above or below the character of a man. The Italian 
war was committed to the Eunuch Narses, who defeated Totila near Rome, 
at a place called Taginee, A. D. 552. The nobles raised Teias to the throne, 
but one more year saw his end, and that of the Gothic kingdom, A. D. 
553. 

The history of the Visigoths is particularly connected with that most • 
important battle of Chalons, A. D. 450, when they helped the Romans 
against Attila the Hun, and gained the battle, though they lost their King 
Theodoric in it. Their history in Spain is one tissue of usurpations and 
murders. It began under Euric, 472, and lasted 239 years, to Roderic, 
711 A. D. when it was subdued by the Saracens. Guizot (Cours d'Hist. 
Leqon lllme) is struck with the political wisdom of their laws, which he 
says were evidently framed not by barbarians, but by the clergy, who were 
the philosophers of the day. Guizot (Fssai IV. p. 208,) gives a re- 
markable protest from them, against the Divine right of Kings. — *' Le roi 



* See Arnold'' s Timcyd. vol. I. Appendix 1 ; GranPs Bampton Lectures, Appendix, p. 342; Malte- 
hrun, Geog. Livre XV. and Gibbon, Ch. 37. 



LECTURE X. MODERN HISTORY, LECT. T. 



75 



est dit roi de ce qu' il gouverne justement (rectfe.) S'il agit rectfe, il 
possfede legitimement le nom de roi : s'il agitavec injustice, il le perd mis- 
erablement." See also, Essai lerfin.sur la France, et 6me Chap. III. p, 
292. There are some valuable extracts given in M.Ferrand's Esprit de 
V Histoire. ^ee below. Led. XV. end. 

Narses then administered Italy : he suppressed the provincial magistra- 
cies, of ancient Roman usage, and established a military Government, 
each of the cities being placed under a Dux, all of whom were subordinate 
to a general commander, resident at Ravenna, and called the 'Exarch.' 
But Narses fell under the displeasure of the Emperor Justin II. He left 
Rome, and, retiring to Naples, invited Alboin, king of the Langobardi 
(Lombards,) to the invasion of Italy, 568 A. D. They had been settled 
42 years in Pannonia, having come from the North of Germany (about 
Hanover,) and having occupied the abandoned seats of the Ostrogoths in 
Pannonia. The Lombards, on their arrival in Italy, took Pavia, made it 
their capital, and at length became masters of all the Northern part of 
Italy. Their kingdom was far inferior in extent to the Gothic ; but it 
lasted 205 years. They were originally Arians ; but before the end of 
their first century, in the reign of Grimoald, they were converted to the 
true Faith, about 660 A. D. They have exercised a very considerable in- 
fluence upon European civilization, by setting the first example of the 
Feudal system, in the following way : * The reign of Alboin was only '6\ 
years ; he perished by the hand of an assassin, leaving no male issue. He 
had adopted Narses' polity, and entrusted to Dukes the command of his 
several provinces. Within two years, the nobles suppressed the elective 
monarchy, and made themselves independent princes : but in consequence 
of the Greek Emperor having induced a king of the Franks to attack them, the 
36 dukes elected another sovereign, on these conditions, — That each duke 
should resign to the Crown half his revenue, and provide troops for war ; 
and that each duchy should be independent and hereditary, and revert to 
the crown only when the possessor died without leaving a son of full age. 
This convention was made 584 A. D. The fall of the Lombard kingdom 
was owing to the jealousies that latterly existed between Rome and it. 
The Roman Bishop at first applied for help to Charles Martel, the Mayor 
of the Palace, or Prime Minister of the Franks ; but in vain : twelve years 
after, a treaty was concluded with his son King Pepin le Bref, who invaded 
Italy, and compelled the Lombards to surrender the Exarchate of Ravenna, 
. and the Imperial districts ; and in the year 774 the Lombard Kingdom 
was suppressed by his son, Charlemagne. 

The History of Italy having been traced to that period, when a connec- 
tion was formed between the Church and the Franks, we must cast our 
eyes back a httle to the early history of France, as having been more es- 
pecially the centre of Unity to European states, in a Political as well as in 
a Geographical sense. 

The barbarians that first invaded Gaul were the Suevi, Vandals, Alani, 
and Burgundians, 406, A. D., all of whom passed on to Spain. The Visi- 
goths in 412 A. D. established themselves in the South of France ; but the 



* For the Feudal System the Student ,is referred to Hallam or Guizot (Essais siir la France,) 
rather than Robertson. (See Led. XI. J 

L 2 



76 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



Franks began their more permanent conquests A. D. 486. They alone, 
of all the barbarians that invaded Southern Europe, were from the first 
sons of the Cathohc Church. Clovis (or Louis) was the founder of 
their kingdom in 486 A. D. He seems in an eminent degree to have 
possessed the qualifications necessary for founding a Great Empire. 
The history of his conversion to Christianity (mainly through his wife 
Clothilde) is characteristic. When the death and passion of Christ 
were repeated to him, he exclaimed — " ego ibidem fuissem, injurias vin- 
dicdssem'' He was baptized at Rheims by St. Remigius, whose memory 
is observed in the Prayer Book, Oct. 1 . His extensive dominions were 
divided between his sons ; but the series of his Merovingian dynasty so de- 
generated, that they are called FainSans, or The sluggard kings. Officers cal- 
led * Mayors of the Palace' usurped all the power, and eventually the throne. 
Pepin d'Heristal was the first of the all-powerful Mayors. He was suc- 
ceeded by his natural son Charles Martel (or the Hammerer,) the famous 
man, who defeated the Saracens from Spain at Tours, A. D. 732, and thus 
under God saved Europe from Mahommedanism. [This battle of Tours 
is one of the 5 great battles on which Hallam thinks the destinies of the 
world have hinged, viz, Arbela, Metaurus, Chalons, Tours, and Leipzig.] 
His son Pepin le Bref set aside the Merovingian dynasty of Clovis in the 
year 750 A. D. and was proclaimed King of France. He was crowned by 
Abp. Boniface, at Soissons, and many writers {e.g. Guizot,Essai W.p. 201,) 
speak of his having been afterwards crowned by PopeZachary, or by Stephen. 
M. Ferrand says that great doubt has been thrown upon that point by 
some critics. Thus began the 2nd Frank dynasty, called the Carlovin- 
gian, which lasted till 987 ; and then the 3rd dynasty began with Hugh 
Capet, and lasted to the Revolution. Pepin reigned with vigour, and yet 
moderation, for 1 7 years ; and at his death his kingdom was divided be- 
tween his sons Carloman, and Charlemagne. The former died at the end 
of 3 years ; and thus, in 711 A. D. Charlemagne became sole king of the 
Franks, and reigned A^6 years from that time. As he devoted all his powers 
and energies to the support of the Catholic faith, (though it must be con- 
fessed with mistaken severity towards the Saxon unbelievers,) the Roman 
Bishop unexpectedly crowned him Emperor of the West, while on his 
knees before the Altar on Christmas Day, A. D. 800 ; and paid him hom- 
age {Guizot says) as a subject. Guizofs Essay on the Fall of the Two first 
Prankish Dynasties is so interesting, that I shall subjoin an abstract of his 
lemarks. 

After the death of Clovis the 1 st, there were frequent divisions of the 
Frank kingdom; for instance, in 51 1, after Clovis' death, — in 561, after Clo- 
taire 1st — in 628, after Clotaire 2nd — in 638, after Dagobert 1st — and after 
Clovis 2nd, in 656 A. D. Consequently there were several petty kingdoms 
in France, such as, Austrasia, Burgundy, Neustria, and Aquitaine. But 
the two principal divisions were Neustria and Austrasia. The forest of 
Ardennes (Silva Carbonaria) separated them. Neustria contained the 
countries between the Loire and Meuse, (speaking generally) — Austrasia 
reached from the Meuse to the Rhine. This description only indicates 
the points of contact, not the whole extent. The people of Neustria, being 
on the West, were . more separated from their ancient home, and the 
Franks were like a colony of barbarians in the midst of civilized Gauls and 



LECTURE X. MODERN HISTORY, LECT. I. 



77 



Latins. Writers of the lOth century call Neustria Francia Romana, and 
Austrasia, Francia Teutonica, or German France. At first the predomi- 
nance lay with Neustria, as having the seat of Empire. So we find that 
the 4 kings of Neustria (mentioned above) re-united the whole kingdom. 
But Austrasia was a prey to continual changes from fresh invasions. The 
story, too, of Clotaire and Fredegonde in Neustria, putting to death the 
Austrasian Brunehault, points to the same fact. 

German writers have thought that the rise of the * Maires du Palais' was 
owing to the struggle between the Franks and the Gauls, — that the Frank 
kings surrounded themselves with native Gauls rather than their own 
countrymen (as Rufus in England made friends with the Saxons, to help 
him against the Norman Barons), and that then the Frank subjects set up 
the ' Maire du Palais,' as a sort of Defender of their interests. There is no 
authority for this view. The King at first ased the Maires (as Theopom- 
pus K. of Sparta instituted the Ephoralty) with the view of repressing the 
Nobles ; but the nobles (as the Spartan citizens before) got the ofiice into 
their hands, and made it elective ; and thus turned it against the king. It 
fell after a time into the family of the Austrasian Pepin hereditarily. 
Charles Martel had secured its establishment in his own family, and the 
overthrow of the Merovingian Dynasty was merely a second successful inva- 
sion of Austrasian Franks upon the Roman and Gallic Neustria. 

It was under Charlemagne that this kingdom arose to its greatest 
height: but, hke Ulysses' bow, which no meaner hand than his could 
string, the Empire crumbled and fell to pieces after his death. And the 
overthrow of the Carlovingian Dynasty by the Capetian was a mere con- 
quest of Feudahty over Monarchy. It was, like the Athenian Archonship, 
an aristocracy in room of the monarchy, without bloodshed or force. 

M. Ferrand, apparently with justice, attributes Pepin le Brefs influence 
mainly to the victory gained by his father Charles Martel over the Sara- 
cens : and Hugh Capet's to his victory over the Normans. 



We are now to trace the operations of the Church upon these different 
political masses. 

The Atheistical doctrines of Epicurus had thoroughly possessed the Ro- 
man Empire from Julius Caesar's time : {See Arnold's Rome, vol. III. p. 
387.) and in those days of vice and irreligion men were startled and 
shamed into believing, by witnessing the sufferings of the Confessors and 
Martyrs of the Church during the first 300 years of the Christian iEra ; 
e.g. the first 30 Bishops of Rome sealed their testimony with their Blood. 
Wlien the Church had permeated every part of the Roman Empire, Paga- 
nism gave way, and Christianity was established by Constantine. That 
century saw the Roman world broken into Eastern and Western ; and it 
seems k Providential arrangement, that the most essential Articles of the 
Faith had been attested by Four OEcumenical Councils (at Nice, Constanti- 
nople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon,) before the breaking up of the Roman Em- 
pire, so that one man could summon all the Bishops of the world. {Pal- 
mer, Ch. Hist. p. 61—71.) 

At this time, when learning had revived in the Alexandrian Schools, 
Heresies were the Trial of the Church, as Persecutions had been in her 



78 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



Infancy. Then was raised up in her a S, Athanasius, to oppose the Arian 
Heresy ; a S. Jerome, (P. B. Sept. 30.) to oppose the Sabellian ; and a S. 
Augustin, (of Hippo, P. B. Aug. 28.) to oppose the Pelagian Heresy, {Ch. 
Art. XL); a S. Cyril, to oppose the Nestorians ; and a S. Leo, to oppose 
the Eutychians. {See Palmer s Ch. Hist.) 

In the 5th century, when the torrent of barbarian hordes were rushing 
down from the North towards the West, the Church was fore-armed 
against this trial, and had gathered itself mainly into bodies of the Mo- 
nastic orders, which were more particularly systematized by S. Benedict, 
(Pr. B. Cal. March 21.) in the beginning of the 6th century. From these 
monasteries, issued fountains of living water, and the teachers of Chris- 
tianity spread themselves over barbarian Europe. {Grant, p. 322.) Un- 
happily, in the East, the heresies above-mentioned had corrupted the 
Greek Church, and from them the barbarians imbibed their heretical no- 
tions of Christianity. 

This 6th Century was the age of Saint Gregory the Great, to whom 
Saxon England is indebted, under God, for Christianity, (P. B. March 
12.) He reformed the lax manners of the Clergy throughout his Province 
and Patriarchate ; for Rome had not then set up her claim of supremacy. 
He was also mainly instrumental in converting the Visigoths of Spain 
from Arianism : and thus a remnant of the Church was prepared in that 
country before the Mahommedan Invasion in the 7th century. This mys- 
tery of iniquity had triumphed over the corrupt* Churches of Asia and 
Africa ; but the Truth was springing up and flourishing in the West. The 
Benedictine order had prepared the way for Charlemagne's Empire. En- 
gland and Ireland were the strongholds of the Church. England had sent 
forth St. Boniface to convert the Germans, (P. B. June, 5.) and he had 
established religious houses all along the Rhine; and in those days Mo- 
nasteries were the centres of learning, social order, and unity. They were 
mainly instrumental in gathering together and civilizing the barbarians, 
whose characteristic was love of personal independence.^ 

This principle, operated on by the Church's Catholicity, was the germ 
of an universal Feudality, in which homage to the Sovereign and personal 
independence were strangely intermingled. In these tumultary begin- 
nings of society, the claims of the Church and barbarian kings ran side by 
side without clashing. Christianity worked downwards (so to speak) 
among the barbarians, whereas it had worked upwards from the poor and 
humble classes to the great and powerful of the Roman Empire. The way 
in which Christianity probably worked itself into the barbarous nations, 
and a spiritual ascendancy succeeded to a Clanship under chiefs, may be 
readily understood from what is going on now in New Zealand. The 
Bishop says (12 March, 1845,)— 

" The authority of the Native Chiefs over their own tribes has been 
much weakened by many causes, e. g. 

1, The pacification of the country has led to the dispersion of the peo- 
ple into detached hamlets, where the authority of the Chiefs is feebly felt, 
if at aU. 



* See Salvianus de Gubernatioiie Dei. 
t GuizoVs second Lecture on European Civilization, and QranPs Bampton Lectures, p. 120, &c. 



LECTURE X.— -MODERN HISTORY, LECT. I. 



79 



2. " The establishment of the order of native Teachers, whose iiifluence 
in many cases has exceeded that of the Chiefs. 

3. *' The abohtion of many heathen usages, by which the respect for the 
Chief was maintained. 

4. "The emancipation of slaves has reduced his power considerably, as 
he was the principal Shareholder."* 

Thus it was till the union of the Western Christendom under Charle- 
magne. His Empire was a mighty rehgious monarchy, — the kingdom of 
Solomon and Josiah on a grander scale. It was a despotism set up to 
make ah earthly power bend to the revealed designs of God. (See Man- 
ning's Oxford Sermons, No. IV. on this principle.) The Church entrusted 
all her spiritual and temporal interests to his hands. Charlemagne's great 
and leading Idea was the Empire of Christian law, based upon the Church ; 
and such was afterwards the theory of the Papal Power : but they were 
both unity under a Visible Head, and after a while they passed away ; for 
the 5th Kingdom is (as we said before) a real outward and inward Unity, 
but under an Invisible Head. (*S'^. Matth. XXIII. 8. St. Luke, XIX. 12, 13.) 



N. B. Three maps to be done, illustrating the scene of the Western and Eastern 
Empires in the years A. D. 400, 500, and 800. 

1. Map for the Year 400— 

The Roman Empire. The Western to be pauited Blue, "the Eastern Red. The 
other countries to be written down, and separated by lines of Indian Ink. 

For the Western, the boundaries were the Clyde, the Rhine, the Danube, the Sandy 
Deserts of Africa, and Longitude 20 East. For the Eastern, from Long. 20 E, the 
Danube, Pont. Euxinus, Armenia, the Euphrates, Arabia, and the Sandy Deserts of 
Eastern Africa, 30" N. L. were the boundaries. The Visigoths were lying just North 
of the Danube, on the E. of 20 E. Long., and the Ostrogoths still further East of 
them, and N. of the Pontus. 

2. The Map for A. D. 500— 

This will leave the Eastern Empire {Red) much the same as the last, excepting 
Dalmatia and Illyricum, which belonged to the Goths. The Ostrogothic Empire, to 
be marked Blue, included all West of 20 E. Long., and South of the Danube, and 
the several countries mentioned above, in the Lecture. Between them and the 
Visigoths lay the Burgundiones, i. e. between 1 and 5 E. Long., and 45 and 48 N. 
Lat. The Visigoths {Blue) possessed nearly all the rest of Western Europe, which 
hes S. of 48 N. Lat. All the North of France belonged to the Franks ; and Great 
Britain, as far as the Clyde, to the Anglo-Saxons. Only the Names of the Nations to 
be written down. 

3. Map for the Year 800 A. D.— 

This will give Charlemagne's Empire {Green,) i, e. all France, and Northern Ger- 
many, as far as Long. 11 E. Rhaetias, Noricum, Pannonia, Illyricum, and Italy, as far 
as Rome. The South of Italy was an independent Principality of Benevento. All 
Spain S. of 42 Lat. belonged to the Saracens, and was called Regnum Cordovse, the 
North, R. Asturiae. The Eastern Empire {Red) was confined to Greece S. of 42 Lat., 
and Asia Minor. The Saracens possessed the rest of its Empire, and the N. of 
Africa. All the Saracenic Empire to be painted Brown. 



* See Guizot, Essai IV. Ch. IV. p. 157. 



LECTURE XI. 
MODERN HISTORY, (2nd Lecture.) 

Rise of the Papal Monarchy. 



The Theory of the Primitive Church, which we profess to follow, seems 
to have been a college of Bishops ruling independently, yet harmoniously, 
their several Churches, and united in one Body and one Spirit under an 
Invisible Head.* Each Diocese was a perfect Church in itself, and all 
together made up the One Catholic Church. 

" Even as a broken mirror, which the glass 
" In every fragment multiplies, and makes 
" A thousand images of one that is 
"The same." 

A more apt illustration may perhaps be taken from God's natural work 
— the Solar system. It is now the night with us {Rom. XIII. 12.) we see 
darkly (1 Cor. XIII). The Sun of Righteousness is hidden from our eyes ; 
but this Light is reflected to us in many thousand stars, and chiefly to our- 
selves by one Planet, as it were, our own Branch of the Church, nearer to 
us, but not so large as many others, and alas ! sadly eclipsed at times, 
waning and increasing at periods. But the day is at hand, and then we 
shall see face to face. Then " there shall be no more night'' (Rev. XXI.) 
Christian Year, Septuagesima. 

It has been stated in a former Lecture, that the Church of Christ is the 
revealed, and therefore only true organ for uniting mankind : the great 
Enemy of the Truth substitutes false and merely human Systems, such as 
the Brotherhood of Freemasonry {See Dr. Arnold's Life, vol. II. p. 255.) 
or perverts the Truth, f as in the Visible Unity of the Papal Supremacy, 
which was a substitute for that Divine Image of Plurality in Unity, the 
Apostolic College. This latter was brought about mainly by the evil per- 
version of originally good instruments ; as for instance, when the Church 
set herself about the conversion of European Barbarians in the 6th and 7th 
Centuries, she did it by appeals to their outward senses and imagination, 
as is proved by the ancient chronicles. {Homilies on Idolatry.) The evil 
bias afterwards given to this external ceremonial was, the unspiritualizing 
of the Christian Faith, — the presenting everything in a palpable and out- 
ward form : and thus a visible was substituted, for the Invisible Head of 
the Church. Again, the corruption of the Monastic system tended the 
same way. The inmates of the Convents, &c. shared in the universal de- 



* Library of Fathers, Oxford Transl. vol. 17. Pref. p. xvii. 
t See St. Matth. xiii. 25,— ^j^c^j/io, " tares,''^ are properly *' wild oats so like the good ear, 
that they cannot ordinarily be distinguished. 



LECTURE XI, MODERN HISTORY, LECT. II. 



81 



moralization that followed the breaking up of Charlemagne's Empire un- 
der his grandsons ; and being afraid and jealous of all control which the 
Bishops of their respective dioceses might exercise, they gladly put them- 
selves under a foreign jurisdiction. This violence of Church Principle has 
always been attended with the worst results. For a further reason, see 
Churton's Early English Church, p. 348. 

Again, the Feudal system of Society assimilated the Church to itself. 
What the Feudal system was, must be described a httle at length : — 

1 . While the barbarous nations remained in their original countries, 
their property in land was merely temporary, as they moved yearly 
from one district to another : consequently individuals were under no 
formal obligation to serve the community. 

2. Upon setthng in conquered countries, each took possession of his 
own allotment, and had a full and entire right to transmit it as an inheri- 
tance. This property was called allodial^ which phrase came to mean 
freehold, as distinct from feudal. The freeholder was not necessarily 
bound to perform any service for the state : but as he was in danger of 
being disturbed by the old inhabitants, or fresh invaders, he generally put 
himself under a voluntary obligation to the community, to defend and be 
defended by them. 

3. Every chief had his adherents (' comiteSy Tac. de Mor. Germ.) who, 
in return for military service, received grants of land called ' benefcium/ 
or ^feodum,' held originally during the pleasure of the chief, afterwards 
hereditary. This was Robertson's and the common notion of the mihtary 
service and hereditary feuds ; but Guizot has most satisfactorily proved, 
that the mihtary service originally was not inherent and connected with 
this property. He shows that that would be to attribute too regular 
and wise arrangements to barbarians. It was merely a personal self-inter- 
ested obhgation. But in course of time the military laws made the ser- 
vice binding. " Si quis legibus in utihtatem regis, sive in hostem bannitus 
fuerit, et minimi adimpleverit, si segritudo eum non detriverit, 60 solidis 
mulctetur.'* It was in the reign of Charles the Bold that, what with dona- 
tions to the Church and the usurpations of force, the allodial property be- 
came feudal (or beneficial.) Sixty years before, Charlemagne had made 
some stringent laws against converting feudal into allodial property. 

Again, with regard to the heneficia being originally held at the pleasure 
of the Chief, and gradually becoming hereditary, Guizot shows, that from 
the 6th to the 1 0th century, they were held simultaneously, not successively y 
either revocable at will, for life, or hereditary. Montesquieu shows, that 
the grants were frequently revoked arbitrarily, but he does not show that 
the act was an allowable or just one, or anything indeed but a tyrannical 
use of power, against which the beneficiaries protest most strongly. The 
only right of revocation that the donor had, was in case of treason and infi- 
dehty. It would be more correct to say that originally the beneficia were 
made for Ufe, and for what the Romans caUed precarium or usufruct ; but 
the course of events constantly tended to render them hereditary, espe- 
cially after Charlemagne's death. 



* Lex Ripuaria, tit. lxv. 1. and Cap. Car. Mag. Ann. S14. ^ect. vii, 

M 



82 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



This system was most completely exemplified in France, but more or 
less so in all Europe. It was entirely a military one. There was no re- 
ligious or moral tie between the lord and his vassals ; though gradually 
the Church introduced a rehgious element into the spirit of Chivalry, as 
may be seen by the banners of the order of the Garter at St. George's 
Chapel : but the Feudal system was essentially vicious, and the people at 
large entertained an invincible hatred towards it. {Guisot, Lecture IV.) 
Feudalism is associated in our minds with many generous maxims and 
deeds of chivalry ; but, in fact, it undermined the roots of all real obe- 
dience ; it superseded the relations between king and subject, — parent and 
child ; and the only thing to be said for it is, that perhaps it was the best 
form of social order that the barbarians were then capable of. 

Feudalism must not be confounded with Chivalry ; — the latter is the 
heroic principle common alike to Achilles and Sir Philip Sidney, belong- 
ing to all ages and countries : the former is a mere epoch in the history of 
an uncivilized people. {Keble's Prcelectiones, vol. \.p. 103) Unfortunately, 
its evils extended to the Church, which ought to have been its corrective ; 
though it must be allowed that the Church did much towards alleviating 
them. It set free the slaves,* — it appeased the feuds ; and fought the 
battles of the Sovereign and the Poor against the independent and tyran- 
nical Barons ; but, (as we said) unfortunately for the Church, the spurious 
counterfeit unity under Charlemagne put an end to that salutary separation 
of temporal and spiritual Powers that had existed in the 6th, 7th, and 
8th centuries. {Guizot, Lect. V. SewelVs Christian Politics, Ch. 4 — 6.) 
He linked the Episcopate to the crown, and thenceforth it had be- 
come a mere feudal order. A Bishop was the king's nominee and vassal, 
and consequently was appointed generally without regard to his qualifica- 
tions. Favouritism and Simony had thoroughly corrupted the Church in 
the 9th and 10th centuries. Thus the Feudal system had magnetized and 
assimilated the Church Polity. As Feudalism tended to exalt an Indivi- 
dual, and (as Guizot says) exactly defined the relative position of every 
man in the scale of Society, from the serf up to the Sovereign, so men 
were the more ready to admit a Church system of subordination exactly 
corresponding with what they saw in the world, — the Pope with the Sove- 
reign, and the other Bishops with the Barons, and so on. 

These things, we say, had prepared men's minds for the reception of a 
Visible Headship of the Church : but — What brought about this Supre- 
macy, and on what was the claim founded ? (See Wordsworth's Theophi- 
lus Anglicanus, Part 2, Chap. IX.) 

A host of witnesses in the Primitive Church have recorded the universal 
belief of their times, (in accordance with intimations of Holy Scripture,) 
that the rank of all the Apostles was essentially the same, — that the com- 
mission given to St. Peter was given to the others, both then, and after- 
wards more distinctly, and was addressed to him as the Type of Unity ; 
just as in our own Branch of the Church Catholic, there is an Archbishop 



* See WilMns^ Concilia, vol. I. p. 393.Cowc?7. Londinense,m\he^ 12th Century. Archd. S. Wil- 
berforce^s holy and indig'nant denunciation of the Slave-System in America, and the supineness 
(nay, participation in guilt) of the American Church, is right worthy of his father's name. (History 
of the Church in America, p. ilO to 431.) The slaves in the Vllth and following centuries were 
manumitted either before the King, and called Denariales, because they had a penny in their 
hands, which the King hit up in their face. 2. Tabularii, before the Church. 3. Chartidarii, 
privately. 



LECTURE XI. MODERN HISTORY, LECT. II. 



83 



over the Episcopal College, — not * Supremus,' but * Primus inter pares/ 
In the first 4 centuries of the Christian ^ra, the See of Rome was un- 
doubtedly a great bulwark of the Faith, and her Bishops one after another 
sealed their testimony -with theii' blood, in times of persecution, or de- 
fended it against error ; as when Pope JuHus, from 337 to 352 A. D. 
upheld and sheltered the persecuted Athanasius. Again, Rome naturally 
received honour as the quondam metropolis of the world, (as stated in the 
Canons of Council of Chalcedon, given in Grant, p. 331 ;) and, in the de- 
chning weakness of the Greek Empire in Italy, the care of the public 
safety often fell into the hands of the Bishops. Again, Pope Leo III. by 
suddenly conferring the Imperial Crown of the West on Charlemagne, as- 
serted an universal supremacy, which the latter did not stop to enquire 
into, and which was tacitly allowed. This ceremony was renewed in the 
person of his son Louis le Debonnaire (the Gentle ;) and then about 100 
years later, 962 A. D. in the case of Otho the Great. In addition to the 
above causes, there remains one, which is highly creditable in itself to 
Rome, {Gi-ant, p, 319.) — viz. the fact that she sent out her missionaries 
into aU Europe, and estabhshed more Daughter- Churches than any other 
See ; and all of them and their progeny (so to speak) naturally looked to 
Rome with reverence and thankfulness; e.g. our own Saxon Church, 
founded by the Roman Gregory, and all the Churches founded by our 
Church. One great object of History is to fore-warn, and so fore- arm, us 
by example, against the evil ends to which good principles may be per- 
verted, — 7iot to prevent our employing the good means. So the English 
Church may learn to guard against attempting to tyrannize over any Co- 
lonial Daughter-Church, (of which by the way she is accused.) God for- 
bid that any pre\dous abuse should check her Missionary Spirit ! So 
in her actual efforts to convert the Heathen, she may use the impres- 
sive ceremonial which converted our forefathers, and eventually led them 
to embody their ideas in our glorious Cathedrals ; but at the same time 
she may remember the unspiritualizing tendency alluded to above, and 
guard against it. 

To return : — Owing to the above-named causes (the acknowledged Pri- 
macy, the Perversion of the Monastic System, Feudahsm, the antiquity 
and high character of the Roman See, and the number of her Daughter- 
Churches,) men's minds were prepared fully to acknowledge the claim of 
Supremacy asserted in the coronation of Charlemagne : and just at this 
time, about the middle of the 9th century, a daring forgery was committed, 
to supply the want of the Primitive Church- Authority for Rome's Supre- 
macy : — A false copy of canon laws, called ' the Decretals of S. Isidore, of 
Seville,' (said by the Protestant Magdeburg Centuriators to be full of ana- 
chronisms,) was spread through Europe, and obtained a general reception. 
In them, the Supremacy of the Pope is declared to be a Primary and 
Apostolic Institution. Waddington, Ch. Hist. vol. II. p. 25, 82, and 
83 shows, that then- spuriousness was never suspected before, and quite 
exempts Gregory from anything like wilful deception. Hincmar of Rheims, 
the first Canonist of his day, had received them. 

Thus the Papacy monopolized the whole governing power of the West- 
ern Church, which property belonged to the College of Bishops. In vain 
was the History of the Israelitish Church recorded as a typical warning 

M 2 



84 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



against setting up a Visible for an Invisible Head. " We will have a King 
over us, that we may be like all the nations/' (1 Sam. VIII. 19,) was the 
cry of the Elder Church ; and the apparent Unity under Saul was really 
the first step towards disunion and division into the two kingdoms of 
Judah and Israel, ending in the Assyrian and Babylonian thraldom. Just 
so the Papacy annihilated the Divine appointment, the Image of God, the 
Plurality in Unity, and the first and immediate consequence was, the fatal 
Schism 866 A. D. between the Greek and Latin Churches, Photius the 
usurping Patriarch of Constantinople, and Nicholas I. Bp. of Rome.* 
However, as God did not desert his Elder Church, but sent prophets both 
to Israel and Judah, so, in the hands of Heaven, the Papal Supremacy, 
though in itself, we believe, an evil, was often made the instrument of 
good. — " Fieri non debuit ; factum valet,"f is the proverb and rule that 
has been applied sometimes to this Mediseval Phase of the Church ; but 
however vahd a principle it may be in secular constitutions, {e.g. as ap- 
plied to the Revolution of 1688, or rather the Hanoverian Succession,) yet 
it is dangerous to apply it to the Church, except perhaps to this extent, 
that any formal decision short of Heresy by a Church Synod is binding on 
its members, till repealed by competent authority. 

The era which followed Charlemagne's death in 814 A. D. was perhaps 
the most disgraceful in the annals of the Church. Yet the Truce of 
God," about 1040, shows what salutary power even then it influenced 
over the lawless barbarians. This Truce of God was first established by 
Guido, Bp. of Puy in Velai, in the end of the 10th Century. The Coun- 
cil of Clermont declared that it should be observed on all the Festivals of 
the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin ; also from Sunday before Lent till 
the Monday after the octave of Pentecost ; from Wednesday before Ad- 
vent till the octave of Epiphany ; and every week from sunset on Wednes- 
day till sunrise on Monday. These are the words of the Council : — " Re- 
ceive the peace or truce which has been ordained : observing every Thurs- 
day, through reverence of our Lord's Ascension ; the Friday on account 
of His Passion ; the Saturday through veneration of His Sepulchre ; and 
the Sunday to honour His Resurrection." (^S*^. Matth. V. 9.) 

The licentious Feudal Barons throughout Europe controlled every ecclesias- 
tical appointment; and as this was especially the case with the Popedom, the 
rest of the Church suff'ered from Rome's subjugation. One Pope (Stephen 
VI.) at this time dragged the body of an obnoxious predecessor (Formo- 
sus) from the grave, subjected it to a mock Trial, and had it mutilated 
and thrown into the Tiber. The power of selecting the Roman Pontiffs 
towards the middle of the Xth Century fell into the hands of two unprin- 
cipled women, of noble family, Theodora and Marozia. [The story of a 



* Doubtless however the Question of Imag-e Worship had alienated the two Churches before. 
See the full Historical account of that Question g'iven in the ' Homilies against Idolatry,' Part 2. 

t The Theory of Development would seem to be applicable to the Subjective Truths of Christianity, 
not to the Objective. The Greek Church would say that they did not deny the doctrine of the 
"Double Procession," but only objected to its being inserted in the creed vi^ithout authority. It 
has not been shown, therefore, that the English Church ever acknowledges development in ex- 
ternal Objective Facts, but only in Subjective applications of Truth,— such as the Doctrine of Free- 
will and Grace, Justification, Regeneration. 



LECTURE XI. MODERN HISTORY, LECT. II. 



85 



Female Pope (Joan) in the 9th century seems utterly unfounded.] A son 
of Marozia's bequeathed the Papacy as a legacy to his son Octavian, who 
at the age of 18 nominated himself to the Vacancy in 955 A. D. under the 
name of John XII ; being the first Pope who assumed a new name on his 
elevation. This man's conduct was so shameful, that he was deposed, and 
Leo, a Layman, was elected in his stead. Otho the Great afterwards nom- 
inated John XIII and Benedict VI successively ; and in fact the appoint- 
ment had now become entirely dependent on the secular arm. Things 
continued in much the same state of secularity, simony, and vice, during 
the reigns of Otho's son and grandson, Otho II and III. Upon the death 
of this last, the Saxon Hne of Henry, the Fowler, (Father of Otho the 
Great) was extinct ; and the nobles of Germany elected Henry II, a Ba- 
varian Prince. He died without issue ; and they then elected Conrad II, 
the Salic, duke of Franconia, whose family it was that filled the Imperial 
throne during the eventful period of the War of the Investitures in the 
Xlth Century. In 1033 A. D. the Count of Tusculum caused his son 
Theophylact, about eleven years old, to be consecrated Pope, under the 
name of Benedict IX. He was eventually driven from his see by the Ro- 
mans, for immorahty, was restored by the Emperor Conrad, and sold the 
Papacy to John Gratianus, who was elected by the Romans, and consecra- 
ted as Gregory VI. A third Pope, Sylvester III, was set up by another 
party. Henry III now filled his father Conrad's throne, and he was inci- 
ted to settle this disgraceful scene. Benedict abandoned his claim ; Syl- 
vester was deposed ; and Henry got Gregory into hia possession, and 
made him abdicate ; and then appointed a German Bishop as Pope, under 
the name of Clement II. Henry set about reforming the Church in real 
earnest, as far as regarded simony ; but in licentiousness he was as bad 
as the rest. Clement II was a good and able man ; but upon his death 
in 1047, the Tusculan faction again tried to foist Benedict IX upon the 
Roman see : the Emperor's party however prevailed, and appointed Da- 
mascus II, who died in 3 or 4 weeks. Bruno, Bp. of Toul, was then nom- 
inated by the Emperor ; and he, at the instigation of the famous Hil- 
debrand (afterwards Gregory VII,) showed the first symptoms of resis- 
tance to the secular power over matters spiritual. Bruno went on foot 
from France to Italy, attired as a Pdgrim, and accompanied by Hilde- 
brand ; and on his arrival at Rome, he announced his nomination to the 
clergy and people, and left to them the confirmation of his election. He 
was consecrated as Leo IX ; and soon began his reforms with stringent 
enactments against aU simoniacal appointments to Church preferment ; 
for, to use the phrase of an old Chronicler, — " the world then lay in wick- 
edness ; truth was buried ; and Simon Magus lording it over the 
"Church." On his death, Hildebrand refused the See for himself, and 
was sent to demand a nominee of the Roman Church from Henry. He 
demanded the Emperor's own friend, Gebhard, and thus deprived the 
royal party of a valuable adherent ; for immediately upon his consecration 
as Victor II (in 1055,) he thoroughly entered into Hildebrand's views of 
the Independence of the Spiritual upon the Temporal Power, and his de- 
sires of reforming the lax morals of the clergy and people. In the fol- 
lowing year Henry died, and left the kingdom to his son Henry IV, a 



II 



86 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



child 6 years of age, and the regency to the Empress Agnes. At the age 
of 12, Henry was violently carried otf from his mother by turbulent and 
plotting Bishops and Nobles, who totally neglected his education; to 
which misfortune may be attributed much of his future self-will. 

On Pope Victor's death, the Romans elected Frederick (brother of God- 
frey, of Lorraine, ) under the name of Stephen the IX, who soon died. 
Whereupon the Tusculan faction set up Benedict X ; but Agnes and Eil- 
debrand caused the excellent Gerard, Bishop of Florence, to be elected as 
Nicholas 11. It was in this Pope's time (1059,) that the important de- 
cree was passed, which freed the Church from secular domination, vesting 
the Election of the Pope in the hands of the Cardinals and the Clergy of 
the parishes in Rome, and merely requiring some "regard to be paid to 
"the Emperor's wishes, if the Apostolic see granted him the privilege.'* 
Nicholas died in 1061; and the next Pope, Alexander II, being elected 
by the Church Party, had to fight the first battle with the secular power ; 
for Agnes nominated Cadalous, Bp. of Parma, a man of lax habits, who 
called himself Honorius II. It was just at this time that the abduction of 
Henry, mentioned above, took place, and the German Barons being desi- 
rous of opposing Agnes in every thing, were easily persuaded by Peter 
Damiani, in a council held at Augsburg, to annul Cadalous' election, and 
authorize Alexander's. The ill-used Agnes eventually did open penance 
in Rome for her conduct respecting Cadalous, and died in a convent. 

Upon Alexander's death, Hildebrand (Gregory VII.) was unanimously 
elected Pope ; and he forthwith set about the work of reformation, by 
exacting celibacy of the Clergy, and condemning all Simoaiacal appoint- 
ments. The great and famous struggle ensued between him and Henry 
IVth, which is called * the War of the Investitures.' The Dependence or 
Independence of the Church was at stake in the apparently unimpor- 
tant question, whether the Secular Princes should confer the ring and 
crosier on the Bishops, or not. Gregory has been called a haughty tyrant, 
&c. by our historians ; but it is remarkable, that the German and French 
Protestant writers first did him justice, and they have since been followed 
by all. {Guizot, Lecture VI. Voighfs, and Bowden's Life of Gregory.) 
Gregory did not go the lengths he afterwards did, till Henry had deposed 
Gregory at the Council of Worms, and sent a messenger to announce it to 
him in full conclave at Rome ; whereupon he excommunicated Henry, and 
made him cross the Alps as a suppliant and penitent, and kept him wait- 
ing three days at Canossa, the residence of the Great Countess Matilda, 
before he admitted him to his presence or absolution. After this, the tide 
turned against Gregory, and he died in exile at Salerno, May 25, 1085, 
with these words, — " I have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity ; and 
so therefore I die in exile." Yet in reality he had gained the victory, and 
he left the work comparatively easy for his successors. Henry IV was 
deposed, and shamefully treated by his son Henry V, who proved a worse 
man, and greater enemy of the Church, than his Father. After a short 
struggle. Pope Calixtus II terminated the War of the Investitures, in 
1122 A. D. It was arranged that the Election and the Investiture, as 
implying the gift of Spiritual Powers, (for the Ring typified Marriage to 
the Church, — the Crosier, pastoral superintendence of the people) should 
be secured to the Church ; and that the gift of the temporalities should 



LECTURE XI. MODERN HISTORY, LECT. II. 8/ 

remain in the hands of the secular power, the symbol of which was to be 
a sceptre.* 

As English Chm-chmen, we are inclined to believe this arrangement was 
more just than Gregory's claim. Though we cannot but] heartily sympa- 
thize with his successful efforts, and with Lanfranc and St. Anselm in our 
own English History of these times, to free the Church from her secular 
thraldom ; yet we cannot justify the total exclusion of the Laity (as repre- 
sented by the Monarchs,) from having a voice in the nomination of the 
Bishops. This seems to have been the Apostolic practice {^Acts VI. 5, 6,) 
and continued in the Primitive Church ; {BinghawiS Christian Antiq. vol. 
I. p. 442.) and is now retained in our own Branch of the Church, at least 
in theory. The Crown, as representing the Laity, nominates, the Dean and 
Chapter of the See elect, and the Bishops consecrate : and thus the Secu- 
lar and Clerical bodies ought to be a mutual check upon each other. How 
far its practice corresponds with its theory is another question. 

One cannot help saying, what is felt strongly, that the Letters of the 
Chapters (after the reception of the Conge Elire for a vacant Bishop- 
ric) addressed to the Crown and elected Bishop, are a fearful mockery in 
the sight of man and God. 

This is the address to the Bishop from the Chapter after the Conge d" 
Elire : — 

*' We the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral Church of do 

humbly certify to you, that we did on ^with all due reverence re- 
ceive Her Majesty's Patent of Conge d' Elire, and also Her Majesty's Let- 
ter recommendatory ; and then and there we did agree to proceed to the 
Election of a future Bishop, on such and such a day, which said day being 
come, and Prayers to Almighty God before all things being offered up, we 
did canonically proceed to the election aforesaid : and after mature and 
serious consideration had between ourselves, concerning a fit person in that 
behalf to be elected, we did at length agree to give our votes to you." 

Now the fact is, that if they exercise any discretion whatever, if they 
require time above 20 days, or hesitate, they are forthwith outlawed, 
and themselves imprisoned, till they consent to violate their conscience. 



Plato, with a deeper insight into human nature than any man perhaps 
that ever lived, except his great master Socrates, imagined a state founded 
and based on Rehgious Truth, which he supposed would pass through 
these 5 stages : — 1st. In which Truth is made the end and great object of 
Political Life. {Cic. de Off. I. iv. 6.) 2nd. The nobler sort of human pas- 
sions begin to obtain an undue ascendancy, such as ambition. 3rd. The 
love of power sinks into a love of wealth. 4th. Upon the accumulation 
of wealth, foUows luxury and self-indulgence. 5th. The utter degradation 
and breaking up of the Kingdom. Now perhaps we may test this theory 
by the Christian Kingdom on Earth : — The first stage answers to the 7 
first centuries, while the Church was one. — 2nd. From about the 



* I cannot help remarking, that the temper and tone of modern ultra-Protestant Historians 
is much fairer than old High-Churchmen of the Caroline Period. Compare OveraWs Convoca- 
tion Book, p, 241, 242, on Gregoiy VII. with the Church History of Waddington, on the same 
period. 



88 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



year 800 to I200.~3rd. To 1500.— The 4th is now perhaps exist- 
ing, (however unwilling we may be to acknowledge the portrait.) — 
5tli. Is to come in the last days, with the Great Antichrist. — When 
the Son of man cometh, will he find Faith upon earth?'* However, 
whether the theory is applicable to the Church generally, or not, it 
is remarkably descriptive of the Papal monarchy, — its earthly king- 
dom, which commenced with Hildebrand's time, about 1050 A.I)., and 
ended about the Councils of Constance and Basil, about 1400 A. D. The 
1st stage we have considered in this Lecture, — the great straggle for the In- 
dependence of the Church, fought mainly by Gregory VII. in the South of 
Europe ; by Lanfranc and St. Anselm in England. The 2nd stage may be 
said to have followed close upon Gregory's time : the battle was gained : the 
Papacy felt her strength, and grasped at power, till it reached its acmfe 
under Pope Innocent III, who laid our King John and his dominions under 
an interdict, in 1213 A. D. Keightley, speaking of the next century, uses 
words which exactly tally with the 3rd stage of Plato's republic. " Em- 
" pire had been the object of the former Popes, — money, that of the low- 

minded Pontiffs" of 1340, and those times. (^Outlines of History, 264. 
Gerson and Bollinge/s Ch. Hist, quoted by Manning, Univ. Sermons^ p. 
85, 86.) The 15th and 16th centuries were the times of its degrada- 
tion, and may be called its 4th and 5th stages. " Its exactions and 
" abuses were never perhaps worse than in 1400, during the infamous 

schism of the two rival Popes, Clement at Avignon, and Urban at 
" Rome." At last^ things got so bad in 1500, by the sale of indulgences, 
&c. that the Reformation was forced upon Europe. 



Geography. — A map for the beginning of the 11th Century, i. e. 1000 A. D. En- 
gland was under the Saxons. All Spain S. of 42 Lat. was possessed by the Mahom- 
medan Kingdom of Cordova. The N. W. formed the K. of Leon, as far as 4 W. 
Long. The K. of Navarre occupied the N. E. corner. The K. of France ex- 
tended over the whole Western part of that Country ; as far as 5 E. Long. Between 
the Rhone and the Alps was the K. of Burgundy. The German Empire bordered on 
France and Burgundy, was bounded by the Vistula, Hungary, and Croatia on the 
East, and occupied all Italy but modern Calabria fi. e. Bruttiorum AgerJ and Apu- 
lia, which belonged to the Greek Empire. Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica, with all the 
N. of Africa, Egypt, and Syria, as far as Armenia, belonged to the Saracens. The 
Greek or Eastern Empire extended over Asia Minor, Thrace, and Greece Proper (i. e. 
S. of 39 Lat.) The Kingdom of Bulgaria extended N. of Greece Proper, and Hun- 
gary N. of the Danube, about as far as 48 N. Lat. 

Only the Countries to be marked down. All the Mahommedan parts to be marked 
Brown ; France, Green ; Germany, Fellow ; Greek Empire, Red ; — the rest in Indian 
Ink. 



LECTURE XI. MODERN HISTORY, LECT. II. 



89 



APPENDIX ON FEUDALISM. 



Guizofs Essai Yme discusses the Feudal system, and expresses as thorough a dis- 
approval of it as Dr. Arnold did, [Life and Correspondence, vol. I. 66.] but on dif- 
ferent and more rational grounds. The latter disliked every vestige of the Mediaeval 
System, and vs^orshipped the one image, which Luther set up, of Private Judgment, with 
all the devotion of his really earnest heart. The former grounds his antipathy to it 
on universal hatred felt towards it by every people that lived under it. " No period, 
no system (he says) was ever so odious as this to the popular instinct : never did the 
cradle of a nation inspire such antipathy, and that not peculiar to one age. No ; re- 
trace the course of history as far back to it as you will, you will be sure to find the 
feudal regime looked uppn by the mass as a deadly enemy they were bound to do 
battle with, and exterminate at any cost. 

" Now what was the character of this aristocracy ? Why, it was a confederacy of 
petty sovereigns, petty despots, having duties and rights towards one another, more 
or less, but invested in their own proper domains with an arhitrary and absolute 
power over their own subjects. This is what distinguishes it from every other govern- 
ment the world ever saw. We have heard of despotic governments under a single in- 
dividual, under a college of Priests, under a body of Patricians. But in those cases 
the despotism is not at their very door. And of all tyrannies, there is none so bad as 
that which can count its subjects, and from its own throne can see the limits of its 
Empire. But its very propinquity was its ruin. Other despots are withdrawn for 
the most part from sight, and the sovereign comes to believe himself (like Alexander 
the Great, and all the Roman Emperors,) a God, and the people fall dovm before its 
mysterious power. But in the feudal system the subject was brought into daily con- 
tact with his lord ; and though it prevailed in some countries more extensively and 
longer than others, as for instance particularly in France, in most, as in England, it 
crumbled before a monarchical, or republican Spirit ; in all it died under the Cru- 
sades. See Led. XII. The fundamental difference between France and England 
was, that the English Barons really formed an aristocracy of peers (pares), like the 
patricians at Rome and Venice; the French were a hierarchy of superiors and 
inferiors." 



90 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



LECTURE XII. 

THE CROSS AND THE CRESCENT, 



It was in the 2nd stage of the Papal monarchy, that the Cross and the 
Crescent were brought into the most direct coUision ; and those strange 
and inexpHcable expeditions, called * the Crusades," took place at intervals, 
during a period of nearly 200 years, from 1095 A. D. (the council of 
(lermont,) to 1291, when Acre was taken, and the Christian power in 
Palestine came to an end. Let us review the History of Mahommedanism 
up to this period ; and we shall find that at least thus much may be said 
in favour of the Crusaders, and those that instigated them, *' that they 
" were not originally the aggressors ; that the Saracens had invaded, and 
"persecuted the Christians ; that in fact, Shem's race had (so to speak) 
*• reversed the former order of things and whereas, in previous Lectures, 
we saw that Japhet's descendants had attacked Shem's, (as in the case of 
Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander the Great, and Pompey,) now the Se- 
mitic Arabians and the Turks had taken the initiative. 

Mohammed was born 569 A. D. in Mecca. His countrymen, the Ara- 
bians, were sunk in idolatry. He was of an ardent yet contemplative 
frame of mind ; and being deeply impressed with his own convictions of 
the Unity of the Godhead, he was proportionably grieved at the idolatry of 
his countrymen. He saw (at least he believed he saw) a vision, and had 
a communication from Heaven, authorizing him to preach that great reli- 
gious Truth. If we may consider Islamism as an inferior Dispensation, 
preparing the minds of the Idolatrous East eventually for the Gospel, 
{Forster's *' Mohammedanism Unveiled." Granfs Lectures, p. 309. Ke- 
ble's Pralect, XL. p. 804, &c.) there does not seem any ground for suppos- 
ing Mahomet to have been an Impostor at first, though perhaps he was 
an Enthusiast ; and when at the head of an army afterwards, he was 2i Fa- 
natic. For a sketch of his Life and Doctrines, see Carlyle^s Hero- 
Worship. He began his mission in his 40th year ; fled from Mecca in 
his 53rd (^^ e. 622 A. D. which is the Hegira, the beginning of the Mus- 
sulman -^ra ;) and was well received at Medina. Thenceforward he used 
the sword. The battle of Beder over the idolatrous Arabians, 623, was the 
first victory. He died in his 63rd year. He had subdued all Arabia, and 
had advanced to the borders of Syria. He was succeeded in 632 by his 
father-in-law, Abubeker, who extended his arms to the Euphrates. After 
two years Omar succeeded to the Caliphate : he reigned 1 2 years, and con- 



LECTURE XII. THE CROSS AND THE CRESCENT. 91 



quered Persia,* Syria, and Egypt. Then Othman, the Secretary of the 
Prophet, was elected Caliph (Vicar,) in his old age. It was not till 655 
A. D. that Ali, the Son-in-law of Mahomet, succeeded Othman, who was 
murdered. Within the short period of one generation, like most of the 
Eastern Conquests, this enormous Empire was established, and had 
triumphed over the Christianity of Syria and Africa. All the Churches 
that were over-run by the Mahommetans were either heretical,, or sunk 
into the lowest state of depravity. {Grant j p. 48. 307. )t But it would 
be presumptuous in us to say that they were worse than the other 
Churches of Europe, which were spared this destructive inundation. (5'^. 
Luke, XIII. 1 — 5.) Perhaps we may be allowed to look upon it as a 
merciful order of Providence, that, immediately after Mahomet's death, 
the followers were split into two sects, — the one (called Schiites) the fa- 
vourers of Ali, — the other (called Sonnites) the party of Abubeker, Omar, 
and Othman ; and that the Persians belong to the former, the Turks to 
the latter : in consequence of which, they are bitter enemies of each 
other, and these two great Empires have never combined their forces to 
propagate Islamism. The successors of Mahomet are divided into three 
series : — The 1st comprised only five Caliphs, who resided at Medina ; viz. 
his three companions, Abubeker, Omar, and Othman ; his son-in-law Ah, 
and Ah's son, Hassan. The 2nd was the dynasty of the Ommiades, who 
resided at Damascus, which was superseded at the end of 88 years, (from 
661 to 749 A. D.) The 3rd was the dynasty of the Abbasides (Ah's fam- 
ily,) who resided at Bagdad, from 749 to 1258, which was suppressed 
by the famous Tartar Zenghis-Khan. The only one of the Ommiad 
dynasty that escaped was Abderahman, who fled to Spain 755, and 
there set up another Cahphate. The example of the Spanish independence 
was followed by the Egyptians, in the year 908, when a dynasty was set 
up called * Fatimites,' which was suppressed in 1171 by the Turks. The 
progress of the Arabians into France, from Spain, was arrested by Charles 
Martel, 732 A. D. at the famous battle of Tours. When the Arabian Em- 
pire was dechning, a race of barbarians was introduced, called Turks, 
who were employed in its defence ; much in the same way as the barba- 
rians of Northern Europe had been received into the armies of Rome. 
This people established a dynasty in Persia 1038 A. D. called the Selju- 
kian, from Seljuk, the grandfather of the first Turkish Sultan, Togrul 
Beg. This new dominion flourished under three successive Sultans, To- 
grul, Alp Arsian, and Malek Shah. At the death of this last, in i 092, the 
Empire was divided into four dynasties, — Ist in Persia — 2nd in Kerman 
— 3rd in Syria, (which in 1096 reduced Jerusalem) — 4th, that of Roum 
in Asia Minor. [N. B. The Ottoman Turks, who finally took Constanti- 
nople, and have established the vast Empire of Turkey in Europe and 
Asia, were the remains of these four kingdoms, led by Soliman ^hah, the 



* Christianity is said to have been preached in Persia by Simon the Canaanite, and Thaddeus. 
There were 16,000 Christians mart>-red there in the 4th Century. Zoroaster's religion was re- 
stored—the only instance of a vig-orous revival of a Pagan religion. (Grant, p. 44. SOG!) 

t The Homilies on the Peril of Idolatiy (especially Part 2) have some veiy interesting and im- 
portant remarks upon the inroads and opjwrtunities of the Mahommedans upon the Christians in 
the Eastern Empire. 

N 2 



92 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



head of another tribe, who migrated from Khorassan in 1224.] The Sara- 
cens * had rather encouraged the pilgrimages of the Christians ; and Haromi- 
al-Raschid (the Caliph of the ' Arabian Night Tales') had even presented 
Charlemagne with the keys of the Holy Sepulchre and City. There is no 
doubt that these pilgrimages were much connected with commerce, like those 
of the Mussulmen to Mecca, and in ancient times the iEthiopians and 
Egyptians to the Temple of Jupiter Ammon {Heeren^s African Nations, 
vol. 1. 471;) but the Seljukian Turks treated the Christians with the 
utmost rigour and cruelty. Saladin, the famous hero of the Saracens in 
the 3rd Crusade, was one of the Turks of Syria, called in to aid the Fati- 
mite Caliphs of Egypt. He placed himself on the throne of the last, and 
founded a dynasty called Ayubides. 

It is rather dangerous perhaps to apply to ani/ one period the words of 
Prophecy in the Apocalypse : it is certainly presumptuous to interpret it 
against others, and not ourselves. Bp. Newton very ingeniously (how 
trull/, we cannot say) explains Chap. IX. 1 — 12, of the Mahommedan 
Empire of the Saracens; and vv. 13 — 15, of the four Sultanies of the 
Turks. 

It is allowed on all hands that the Turks (if not the Saracens) persecu- 
ted the Christian pilgrims and merchants most barbarously; so much so, 
as in itself perhaps to have justified and warranted the Church in having 
armed Europe in defence of the Holy Sepulchre. No single writer of any 
kind ever took upon himself to justify the lawless, impious, and unchris- 
tian conduct of the mass of the Crusaders, especially in the first expedi- 
tion ; but the effects and consequences of them upon Europe were so bene- 
ficial, that however much we blame the conduct of many engaged in them, 
we can hardly help looking upon them as good in themselves. 

It will be necessary to give a brief account of Europe previous to the 
Crusades, and the consequences attendant upon them. The feuds and 
quarrels of the Barons, the laxity of the Clergy, the lawlessness of the 
people, and the licentiousness of all classes, made Europe before the Cru- 
sades the scene of worse (or as bad) and more frequent crimes, than even 
Europe and Asia witnessed during them. The ' Truce of God' (alluded 
to in a former Lecture) is one proof of this ; and it is a fact, that hun- 
dreds of men, who were living very wicked lives before, repented and 
amended their course, when they had taken the Cross. In addition to the 
lawlessness of life, there had just sprung up a school of unbelief and 
rationalism, under the famous Abelard, which threatened to sap the founda- 
tions of what little Truth was believed and acted upon at that period. 
This was silenced for a time by the preaching of the Crusades. Moreover 
the tyranny of the Barons then received its death-blow, owing to the lands 
and rights of so many slain Crusaders falling into the hands of the Sove- 
reigns, thus establishing the Monarchy, and giving scope to the Middle 
and Lower Classes to rise out of the thraldom of Feudalism. Gibbon 
(who condemns the Crusades altogether) refutes himself by a beautiful 
illustration of this fact : — "The conflagration, which destroyed the tall and 



* See Forster^s Geograph, History of Arabia, and Christian Remembraticer, No. 48, p. 37 
" Saracens'" from " Sarah." 



LECTURE Xtl. — ^THE CROSS AND THE CRESCENT. 93 

"barren trees of the forest, gave air and scope to the vegetation of the 
"nutritive plants of the soil." 

The progress of commerce, (especially amongst the Venetians and Geno- 
ese ;) the refinement of manners, as shown in the spirit of chivalry ; the 
extinguishing of private feuds ; and the co-operation of the European 
governments, were all results of the Crusades ; and remind us very forci- 
bly of their resemblance in this respect to the Trojan war of old. {Thucyd. 
I. 13.) The mere circumstance of the total failure of the Crusades in 
general, in gaining any permanent possession of the Holy Sepulchre, may 
only prove that that was not their real purpose, * which may have been 
gained by the purification as it were of Europe, and the regeneration of 
the Church. The only ill consequence of these crusades afterwards, that 
is alleged against them, is, that heresies were brought back from the East. 
How far this charge to any extent is to be depended upon (though we do 
not deny that it was partly the case,)we shall see hereafter in the case of 
the Knights Templar. i^See Ratisbonne's Life of St. Ber?iard.) 



The character of Achilles is shown in Keble's PrcBlectiones (a book no 
lover of the Classics should be without) to be the beau ideal of a Chivalric 
Knight. He points out a remarkable parallel between the Crusades, as 
followed by the maritime discoveries, especially of Columbus, and the 
military spirit of the Iliad, followed by the naval rjdos of the Odyssey ; or 
again, Alexander's Asiatic expeditions, concluded by his admiral Near- 
chus' sea-voyage of discovery. 



Pope Sylvester II. first planned a Crusade, about lOOO A. D., in w^hich 
only Pisa was roused to make a few predatory attacks on Syria. Pope 
Gregory VII. next conceived the idea of reuniting the Eastern and West- 
ern Churches, and triumphing over the Moslem cause by a Crusade. 

At length Peter the Hermit believed himself to be inspired to preach 
tlie Crusades, in consequence of the fearful sufi'erings of the Christians at 
Jerusalem, which he had seen and shared. Pope Urban II. embraced 
the scheme, and assembled a great council for that object at Clermont in 
France, A. D. 1095, where it was unanimously agreed upon. 

The history of the lawless and perfidious conduct of the four first un- 
disciplined bodies that marched from Constantinople is indeed revolting. 
Walter the Penniless, and Peter the Hermit, led two of these bodies, 
which were almost totally destroyed by the Hungarians and Bulgarians. 
At last the army, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, laid siege to Jerusalem, and 
after five weeks gained possession of the Holy City, and established their 
general as King ; which power lasted 80 years, or so. {See Broad Stone 
of Honour, vol. T. p. 264.) 

In consequence of the Infidels having recaptured Edessa, &c. a second 
Crusade was proclaimed by Eugenius III. and preached by St. Bernard 



* Careat successibus opto, 
Quisquis ab eventu facta notancla putat. 



94 ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 

in 1147, accompanied by miracles, as is said by Protestant, as well as Ca- 
tholic writers,* and conducted by Louis VII. K. of France, and Conrad 
Emperor of Germany, but without any success. In the year 1 187, Sala- 
din captured Guy of Lusignan, the King of Jerusalem, took the city, and 
put an end to the Latin dominion. 

Whereupon a Third Crusade was led by F. Barbarossa, Emperor of Ger- 
many, in 1189 ; but he was drowned in the river Cydnus, of Cilicia, and 
his army swept away by a pestilence. It was in this Crusade (1190 
A. D.) that our Lion-hearted Richard, and Philip Augustus took the cross. 
The heroism of the former, and jealousy of the latter, — the taking of Acre, 
— the sulky withdrawal of the French King, — the defeats of Saladin, — 
the illness of Richard, — his departure from the Holy Land, his adven- 
tures in Germany, his trial at Hagenau, near Strasburg, his ransom, 
and return to England, are known to the readers of Walter Scott, if not 
of Michaud, and Mills. 

In 1203, a Fourth Crusade was engaged in by the French and Vene- 
tians ; but, at the desire of the latter, the whole expedition was directed 
to Constantinople, which city they took possession of, and founded a 
Latin Empire, and a Patriarch subject to the Pope; but in 1261 the 
Greeks expelled the usurpers, by the aid of the Genoese. 

The 5th and 6th Crusades were promoted by Pope Innocent III. and 
preached, one by Fulk of Nuilly, and the other by de Courcon. In the 
latter, the Holy Sepulchre was recovered ; but was soon retaken by the 
Korasmians. 

In the Seventh Crusade, which was decreed by Pope Gregory IX. in the 
Council of Spoleto, 1 234, and preached by the Franciscan and Dominican 
Friars, the English Hospitallers and French Lords marched to Jerusalem 
about 1 239 ; but the result was unsuccessful. The eighth was decided on 
at the council of Lyons in 1245, was conducted by K. Louis IX. (or St. 
Louis) in 1249, who combined the simplicity of a child, and piety of a 
Saint, with the heroism of a French King. He sailed to Egypt, and there 
was taken prisoner at the battle of Mansoura, but was ransomed, and went 
to Acre ; but nothing was done towards effecting the object of the Cru- 
sades, and he returned to France in 1254. 

He however started on his second Crusade (which was the 9th, and 
last) in 1270 ; and again went by way of Africa. He took Carthage ; but 
immediately fell sick, and died in the same year. In 1291 the city of 
Acre, where the titular king resided, was captured by the Mamelukes of 
Egypt, and thus the Christian Power in Palestine came to an end. 

It remains to make a few remarks about the Military Religious orders, 
which sprung up in these times ; and to give a short sketch of the barba- 
rous dissolution of the Order of Knights Templar in the time of Pope 
Clement V. and by the instrumentality of Philippe-le-Bel, son of St. 
Louis, at the commencement of the 14th century. 

One of the most celebrated of these Orders was the Teutonick, who 
settled in Prussia after the Crusades, made war on Pomerania and Lithu- 
ania, and eventually were subdued to feudal service under the Kings of 



* On the Ecclesiastical miracles, see an Essay by Rev. J. H. Newman, prefixed to Fleurfs Eccl. 
Hisforif. On their existence in heretical bodies, see especially Auffustine de Unit. Eccl. 49. i50. 
De Civif. Dei, Lib. XXII. 8. 



LECTURE XII. — THE CROSS AND THE CRESCENT. 95 

Poland. The order of the Hospital of St. Lazarus was merged into 
others, about the 16th Century. The Knights of St. John in Malta, see 
Arrowsmith, Chap. XIY. 43. The fate of the Red Cross Knights, the 
Templars, is a mournful tragedy. (English Review, No. 1 .) 

Phihppe-le-Bel is believed to have had Pope Boniface VIII. murdered at 
Anagni in 1303, and his successor Benedict XL poisoned in 1304 ; and he 
then procured the election of Bertrand, Abp. of Bourdeaux, under the name 
of Clement V, with whom he made certain stipulations. Philip was in want 
of money, had exhausted all his resources, viz. extortions from the Jews 
and the Clergy. He sent for the Grand-Master of the Templars from Cy- 
prus, who arrived with an immense hoard of wealth. Philippe had ap- 
plied for admission into the order, and had been refused. Rumours began 
to be whispered about, that there were mysterious charges likely to be 
brought against the Order. De Molay, the Grand-Master, repaired to 
Poictiers, where the Pope was, and fancied he had cleared himself and 
order. He returned to Paris, and was hving in high favour at court, 
when on a sadden, in the night of Oct. 12, 1306, he and every Templar 
in Prance was seized, and thrown into prison. A Royal letter was sent 
through the Kingdom, accusing them, without any foundation, of denying 
their Rehgion, of monstrous and unholy rites, and of being at heart Ma- 
hommetans. The very next morning Philippe had possessed himself of 
all the treasures of the Temple. Out of 140 prisoners in Paris, who were 
put to the torture, 36 died under it ; the rest confessed their heresies ; 
and the same course was resorted to throughout France, and with the 
same result. In May 1310, the 546 prisoners deputed 72 of their body 
to plead their cause : those who confirmed their previous confessions were 
liberated, the rest sentenced to be burnt. To the honour of the order it 
is recorded, that 54 of the 72 were in this last class. When the Church 
met in council under the Pope at Vienne, in Oct. 1311, there were 300 
bishops assembled, who refused to pronounce judgment against the Tem- 
plars, till they had been heard in their defence. Accordingly Clement 
summoned a few more obedient bishops, and in the presence of Philippe 
aboHshed the order. The Grand-Master and another were burnt, by order 
of Philippe, \Sth March, 1314, in a Httle islet in the Seine at Paris, per- 
sisting in their innocence. From the midst of the fire the Grand-Master 
solemnly summoned " both Clement and Philippe to appear with himself, 
within one year from that time, before the Tribunal of that Great Judge, 
who alone knoweth the hearts of men." At the end of a month the 
Pope died ; and within the year Philippe pined away, and withered, Uke 
the West-Indian negro under the curse of the Pahia-man. 

In other countries the Templars were not subject to such horrible bar- 
barities as in France. In Spain, Portugal, and England, their property 
was transferred to other orders. The history of the confiscation by Phi- 
lippe reminds us very forcibly of our Henry VIIFs appropriation of Church 
Property at the Reformation ; and in each case there is very little doubt, 
that neither the Monarchs nor their ministers cared a straw for the reli- 
gious question, except so far as it might be made to serve their selfish 
purposes. 



96 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



Geography y — 1300 A. D. Beginning with the West. Portugal was as now ; K. of 
Granada answering nearly to the present province of that name. All between Portu- 
gal and 2 W. Long, was the K. of Leon and Castile. In the N. E. corner of Spain was 
the wedge-shaped K. of Navarre, reaching to 42 N, Lat. with the point of the wedge 
downwards. The rest of Spain was the K. of Arragon. The River Rhone and 5 E. 
Long, was the boundary of France. Poland, Hungary, Croatia, and Dalmatia, were 
the Eastern boundaries of Germany, and the States of the Church the S. boundary. 
The S. of Italy was, as now, the K. of Naples; but Sicily in 1300 was separate from 
it, and under the K. of Arragon, though it was to revert to Naples eventually. At the 
N. E. of Germany were Poland and Silesia, between 19 and 25 E. Long, and 54 and 50 
N. Lat. Then the Kingdom of Hungary extended S. of Poland, as far E. and S. as 
Austria does now. Bosnia, Servia, Wallachia, and Bulgaria, as at present. The 
Greek Empire contained Albania, Macedonia, Rumilia, and Asia Minor W. of 30 E. 
Long. The lower parts of Greece were kingdoms formed out of the ruins of the Latin 
Byzantine Empire, and called Epirus and Achaia. All the rest of Asia Minor (E. of 
30 Long.) belonged to the Turks : all Syria and Egypt to the Mamelukes. The rest 
of the East, except the Deserts of Arabia, and Hindostan, were under the Tartar dy- 
nasty of Kublai Khan, (which had been founded in 1206 by Jenghis Khan.) The 
North of India had just fallen a prey to the Moguls at this period ; Hindostan Proper 
being still under an Afghan yoke. The Northern Kingdoms of Europe, such as En- 
gland, Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, were much the same as at 
present. 

Distinguish these several Mngdoms by various colours, and write down the Names of 
the Nations. 



LECTURE XIII. 

THE EARLY HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 



St. Augustine (of Hippo,) De Civit. Dei, Lib, XIX. says — "The 
"Heavenly city (the Church of God,) in the days of its pilgrimage on 
" earth, enlists citizens out of all nations ; not caring for differences of 

manners, laws, and customs : but rather seeking to preserve them for 
** the sake of earthly peace, if they hinder not the worship of the only 
" most High and True." 

The distinction of race perhaps is no where more clearly marked than 
in Great Britain : the Celts and the Saxons have been in some degree 
amalgamated, and united by Christianity, and yet the character of each 
remains indelible. The Welch, Scotch, and Irish, are still as unlike the 
English, as the old Celts were unlike the old Saxons and Normans. 

The ancient Britons were evidently Celts. The Celts were the oldest 
branch of the Indo-European Stock which is found in Europe ; what geo- 
logists would call the primary stratum of society. The resemblance of 
the Celtic languages (in their inflexions and in words) to the Teutonic, 
shows that the Celts, as well as the later Saxon and German races, came 
from the East. The Celtic dialects known at present are the Welch, the 
Cornish (which exists in books, and was spoken since the Reformation. 
See Southey's Book of the Church, Chap. XIII.) and the Armorican, of 
Brittany in France ; the Erse, or Irish ; the Gaelic of the Highlands in 
Scotland ; and the Macks of the Isle of Man. 

Csesar says the Celts reverenced what was strange, mysterious, and in- 
visible ; the Germans or Teutonic race only worshipped what they could 
see. The same character has existed ever since, and still exists. It is 
one cause why Teutonic England has never produced any great works of 
art ; and if the Teutonic branches of the Church have partaken of this 
rationalistic spirit to their harm, literature has been improved by it. For 
whereas the Celtic tendency is to idolize whatever is transcendent in talent 
and virtue, the German, in a more truly Catholic spirit, looks upon the life 
and acts of every human creature, down to the humblest, as having ac- 
quired a grandeur worthy of the most solemn consideration, ever since 
the Godhead was manifest" in human nature. The two combined form 
the true Christian character, which realizes the Individuality of Personal 
Responsibility with the Catliohcity of Church-membership. 

Csesar is our best historian of the early state of Britain. He invaded 
it B. C. 55, in August, and landed near Deal, at Lyme, (Lemanus Portus,) 
defeated the natives in 2 battles, and returned with hostages to Gaul in 

o 



98 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



September, Early in the next year he embarked again from the same 
port (Itius P. probably Boulogne) with 800 sail, and struck terror into 
the enemy, who had rallied round the standard of Cassivelaunus. He 
followed them up into the country, defeated them near Canterbury, crossed 
the river Thames near Kingston (where the Coway Stakes down almost to 
the present times marked the British attempts at defence,) and penetrated 
as far as St. Alban's, imposed a tribute, and returned to Gaul. The fact 
of his leaving no forces to secure his conquests shows that his purpose 
was not so much to establish the Homan power in Britain, as to prevent 
the Gauls from deriving any aid from thence, and to occupy his army, till 
his designs upon the Roman Empire were ripe. {C(ES. lib. vi. c. 5.) 

When Caesar landed, he found the inhabitants divided into upwards of 
40 different tribes, of whom the most considerable inland were the Bri- 
gantes, a Celtic race : the South and West were possessed by Belgian 
tribes, who had come from Gaul, and forced the Aborigines into the mid- 
land. [Not that the Belgse and Celts were originally of different families, 
for they had the same worship, and spoke merely distinct dialects. St. 
Jerome tells us that the Belg^ and Galatians, who were Celtic Gauls, spoke 
the same language. Prichard, vol. III.^. 70 — 109.] The form of govern- 
ment, if it can be so called, was patriarchal, the father having the power 
of life and death over his family : but, among freemen and heads of fami- 
lies, the Druids were the judges. This priesthood is said to have 
in Britain, and to have flourished more there than anywhere. They were 
kept very different from the people, but were not a caste, or particular 
tribe, as in the Eastern priesthoods ; but chosen out of the best families, 
and from the most promising young men and women. Serpent-worship 
was a chief point in this as in nearly all false religions, even in Mahom- 
raetanism ; but their sacrificing human victims has made them the object 
of special loathing to Christian feelings. {Biirke, English History, 
Chap. 2.) 

According to Augustus' policy, {Lect. VIII.) Britain was left alone from 
the time of Cesar's death till 40 A. D. when Caligula prepared an army 
in Gaul for its invasion, but abandoned it, apparently without any reason ; 
and after gathering some shells on the sea-shore, returned to Rome. At 
length, in ('laudius' reign, A. Plautius was sent to invade the Island, A.l). 
46 : he defeated Caractacus, king of the Silures, in three battles, and in 48 
the Emperor himself appeared in Britain for 16 days, and routed the na- 
tives. The command was given in 51 to Ostorius Scapula, who waged 
war with Caractacus for 7 years, till at last the Britons were defeated : and 
the Chief having fled to Cartismandua, queen of the Brigantes, was basely 
surrendered by her to the Romans, and led in triumph to Rome ; but his 
intrepid behaviour gained pardon and liberty for himself and family. 
{Masori s Caractacus?) Ostorius was the first that settled anything like 
municipal colonies in Britain. He died in .53, A.D.; and Nero sent Sue- 
tonius Paulinus in 58, who destroyed the sacred seat of the Druids in 
Mona, or Anglesey. In 61 occurred the memorable ill-treatment of Boa- 
dicea, queen of the Iceni, and her complete victory at Maldon and St. Al- 
ban's. Suetonius returning from Mona defeated her, and left 80,000 dead 
on the field. She poisoned herself. i^Cowpers Ode ' Boadicea.') 



LECTURE XIII. ^THE EARLY HISTORY OE ENGLAND. 99 

A. D. 78. Agricola was appointed governor. In 83 he reduced the 
South into the form of a regular Province, that is, deprived them of their 
own laws and institutions, and most of their lands. He marched into the 
North, defeated Galgacus at the Grampian Hills, and built a chain of forts 
from the Clyde to the Forth ; but was recalled by Domitian, through 
jealousy of his renown, in 86. The Emperor Hadrian erected a second 
wall in 121 A. D., from Solway Frith to the Tyne, to secure Britain 
against the Picts or Caledonians. In 134 LoUius Urbicus, lieutenant of 
Antoninus Pius, extended the lines again to Agricola' s wall. In 208 the 
Emperor Severus built a wall of stone, in place of Hadrian's wall of earth ; 
the remains of it are still visible. In 284, Carausius, a barbarian governor 
in Gaul, assumed the purple in Britain, but was assassinated in 293. Con- 
stantius, when he came to the purple, resided in Britain ; and it has been 
said his wife Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, was a native of 
Britain. Constantine in 306 succeeded his father, and defeated Maxen- 
tius, principally by the help he received from Britain. After this, Britain 
was continually harassed by the Picts and Scots, in consequence of Max- 
imus, the Roman general in Britain, setting himself up as Emperor, and 
carrying over all the British and Roman forces into France, in 382. Theo- 
dosius defeated them, and the remains of the British array is said to have 
settled in Armorica, (Brittany.) Honorius sent troops in 396, under 
Stilico, and in 411, under ^tius, to aid the British against the Northern 
Invaders ; and at last, in 428, he abandoned Britain, and discharged them 
from their allegiance, 473 years after Julius Csesar's invasion. It is re- 
markable how httle impression Rome left upon this island. {Arnold's 
Mod. Hist. Lectures, p. 33.) Our language bears little or no trace of 
Roman element : what there is, came from the French, introduced by the 
Normans. The fact is, that very few really Roman soldiers ever served in 
Britain : most of the troops there were barbarians, from some other sub- 
ject nation. Moreover military colonies (such as Rome planted there) 
had this defect, that lands granted to soldiers did not pass to their poste- 
rity, so that there never was any permanent admixture of Roman blood. 
Tacitus, Annal. XIV. 27, describes the decay of their colonies. 

After having been so long subject to foreigners, there was no royal 
family to succeed, and keep things in order. Consequently, while they 
suffered grievously from Northern invaders, they fell into a complete state 
of anarchy and irreligion- ; till at length they elected, in 427, a Prince of 
the Damnonii, Vortigern, as Monarch of S. Britain. He invited over the 
Saxon pirates to his aid against the Picts; and they landed in the I. of 
Thanet, led by two brothers, Hengist and Horsa, who drove back the Ca- 
ledonians. These Saxons came from the N. of Germany, about the Elbe. 
[On the three divisions of the barbarian invaders of Europe, see Lect. 8.] 

There is a general belief among the N. nations of Europe, that in very 
early ages, an Asiatic race, called Asers, migrated from Tartary, under 
Odin, and gradually subdued the Celtic Aborigines ; {but see Pritchardy 
vol. III. p. 401.) The Saxons considered themselves descendants of these 
Asers, and worshipped Odin as their tutelar deity. [On the parallel of 
Grecian History, see Keightleifs England, vol. I. p. 18.] The Britons 
soon found that these auxiharies had become their masters, and thev re- 

o 2 



100 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



belled, under Vortimer, son of Vortigern ; but were defeated at Aylesford, 
in 455, and Hengist became K. of Kent. Vortimer was poisoned by his 
mother-in-law Rowena, and Vortigern and 300 of his nobles murdered 
May \st A. D. by Hengist, at a feast, in memory of which the Briton 
Ambrosius is said to have erected Stonehenge, the scene of the murder. 
The beginning of the 6th century is occupied by fabulous stories of "good 
king Arthur's reign." It is however probably true that he defeated Cerdic 
near Bath, 511 A. D. Eventually the ancient Britons seem to have been 
reduced to slavery, or at all events degradation, as appears from the laws 
of K. Ina, which speak of a Briton's life being valued at a lower rate of 
compensation than the English. But Guizot has shown {Essais sur V 
Histoire de la France IV. 134, Chap. 2.) that the wehr-geld did not ne- 
cessarily show the political estimation or rank of a man, but merely his 
personal value ; e. g. in France, a Gaul or Roman, a slave, might be valued 
at a higher rate than a Frank or free barbarian, if the man was a clever 
artizan or the like. It is observable that our language has received little 
or no tincture from the Welsh. {Arroiosmith, VII. 35.) 



We must now take a review of the Church's work in Britain during 
this period. It is almost certain that Christianity was planted here in the 
time of the Apostles, and at the date of St. Paul's travels to the West. 
A. D. 63. (Burton, p. 1 17.) St. Peter is said (according to Abp. Usher) 
to have come to Britain A. D. 60 ; and the tradition which brings St. 
Joseph of Arimathaea to Britain, about the same time as St. Paul, is de- 
fended by the same authority. St. Joseph was held to have been the 
founder of Glastonbury Abbey : {but see Collier's Eccl. Hist. Bk. 1.) 

The second great epoch in British Church History is the conversion of 
K. Lucius about 182 A. D. as related by Ven. Bede, Lib. I. 4. As Britain 
was then subject to the Roman Empire, he naturally sent there for in- 
struction in the Faith, just as an Indian Rajah would naturally apply 
now to Great Britain. Gildas, the British Historian, and St. Bede, the 
Saxon, state that for the next century the Church made its progress si- 
lently here, as in the rest of the Empire ; and when the Great Diocletian 
Persecution, 303 A. D. occurred, many of both sexes died confessing their 
faith ; amongst them the Roman officer St. Alban {Pr. Bk. Cat. June 1 7,) 
who resided at Verulam, and has given his name to that town. The names 
of British bishops are recorded as having been present at the council of 
Aries, 314, A. D. But if it had its martyrs to boast of, it also produced 
the heretic Pelagius (Morgan,) who was publicly refuted by St. Germain, 
Bp. of Auxerre, and Lupus, Bp. of Troyes, who came over from France to 
oppose him, and procured the condemnation of his heresy at the council 
of Verulam, 429 A. D. This same Bishop of Auxerre is said to have been 
mainly instrumental in occasioning, by his presence and exhortations, the 
British victory over the Saxons at Maes-Garmon (Germain-field,) near 
Mold, in Flintshire. 

The condition of this British Church is not very clear. In the midst 
of the national troubles about the beginning of the 5th century, it sent a 



LECTURE XIII. THE EARLY HISTORY OF ENGLAND. lOl 

mission under St. Ninian to convert the Picts and Scots. St. Patrick, the 
Apostle of Ireland, 440 A. D., is also said to have been a native of N. 
Britain ; though the testimony is more in favour of Bretagne in France. 
[Some very learned papers in the Brit. Mag, of Dec. 1843, and Jan. 
1844 (entitled " Palladius Restitutus'') would show that Palladius and 
Patricius were one and the same person. It was previously supposed that 
Palladius was the first Apostle of the Irish sent by the Pope Celestine, but 
that at the end of a year he gave up his mission in despair, and that then 
St. Patricius was sent.] There seems to be no doubt that national ani- 
mosity prevailed over true Christian spirit, and the British Church wil- 
fully neglected its duty of endeavouring to bless them that persecuted" 
her, by converting the Saxons to Christianity. (Bede, I. 22.) Ireland in 
the 6th century had one of the most promising and renowned Churches 
in Christendom : about 565 A. D., St. Columba undertook his mission 
from Durrogh in Ireland into North Scotland, and founded his famous 
Monastery and School at lona, one of the W. Islands, (Icolmkill); whence 
afterwards issued Missionaries to assist in converting the Saxons. But, 
for the first attempts we are indebted to St. Gregory the Great, Bp. of 
Rome, who sent Augustine with 40 missionaries in 596 ; and he converted 
Ethelbert King of Kent, and more than 10,000 Saxons, within a year. 
He is said to have wrought miracles, and doubtless the Saxons then be- 
lieved he did ; nor is it at all improbable. {See Burke, English History, 
Book 2. Chap. 1.) Thus did God mercifuUy remedy the neglect of the 
British Church. As far as we can judge, unless a nation is converted to 
Christianity in the infancy of its civilization, the work is very rarely ac- 
complished in a more advanced state ; (till at least its decline, or second 
infancy ; as was the case with Rome.) Experience teaches us now, that 
the conversion of civilized nations all at once, such as the Hindus, is 
almost hopeless. Individuals are one by one gathered slowly into the 
fold ; but we never hear of any national conversions, except in barbarian 
countries, e.g. N. Zealand. The complete overthrow of aU civilization 
in Europe after the 5th Christian century was probably therefore a great 
blessing, as preparatory to a general conversion of the European states.* 
Therefore the British Church having neglected its duty towards the 
Saxons, humanly speaking England would have continued heathen till it 
had passed the infancy of civihzation, had it not been for St. Gregory and 
Augustine's zeal, which latter received the pall and consecration as Abp. 
of Canterbury from the Church of Aries in France, by St. Gregory's com- 
mand. (The Church thankfully commemorates them in the Prayer-book 
Calendar, March 12, and May 27.) In consequence of this, the Bp. of 
Rome claimed the homage of the English Church, as if he were the Me- 
tropolitan to the see of Canterbury : just as the See of Canterbury claims 
the homage of a Daughter-Church (e. g. Australia.) The point is met in 
two ways ; — 1st. Supposing we allow the claim to be valid in St. Gregory's 
and Augustine's time, it is only valid so long as the Metropolitan Church 
abides by the Articles of Faith, which she imposed on the Daughter. If 
the Mother Church abjures or adds anything, the allegiance so far is at an 



* On this interesting subject, see Dr. GranVs Bampton Lectures, p. 309. 



102 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



end, according to the analogy of XVIIL 14 — 19. But 2ndly. 

We deny the vaUdity of the claim, because there was an independent 
branch of the Church Catholic in Britain before Augustine (as we have 
seen, though it neglected this branch of its duty,) and it asserted its inde- 
pendence of Rome at the time, and afterwards ; and therefore Rome merely 
stood in the same light to England, through Augustine, that England does 
towards Jerusalem at present, through the Anglican Bishop lately sent 
there.* {Churton's English Church, pp. 42, 148, 274, 311. Gladstone's 
Ch. Principles, last Chapter.) It should be added, that to Abp. Theo- 
dore, A. D. 669, England is mainly indebted for her parochial system and 
organization. 



We now return to the Political History of the Anglo-Saxons. The 
Saxons were divided into 7 kingdoms, (called the Heptarchy,) which were 
established gradually and at different times ; but in consequence of Ceau- 
lin king of Wessex being at war with all his neighbours, the others made 
a league against him, and appointed Ethelbert * Bretwalda,' or Lord of 
Britain. (Of course this was favourable to the progress of Christianity, 
Ethelbert being the first convert.) The Heptarchy consisted of the fol- 
lowing Kingdoms — 1st. Kent ; 2nd. South-Saxons (Surrey and Sussex ;) 
3rd. Wessex (Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wilts, Hants, Berks ;) 
4th. East-Saxons (Middlesex, Essex, part of Hertford ;) 5th. Northum- 
berland {or Deira and Bernicia, i. e. all the countries North of Humber ;) 
6th. The (Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge;) 7th. Mercia (the 

Midland Counties.) {See Lajjpenberg' s History of the Anglo-Saxons.) 

The most remarkable Kings of these states were the West-Saxon. From 
Cerdic, their founder, the present royal family is descended, through the 
female line. He was K. Arthur's reputed antagonist, A. D. 504, 511, 
527, &c. King Ina of Wessex was the greatest legislator of his age, 688 
— 727- He assembled the Wittenagemote, or Parliament, and drew up a 
code of Seventy-nine Laws. King Egbert, the last of Wessex, was the 
first sole monarch of England, A. D. 828. 

Whilst Charlemagne was reducing the continent of Europe to one em- 
pire, Egbert was reducing England to one kingdom. Before his time, the 
J3anes had made their first appearance, 787 A. D.; but in his time, 833, 
they entered the kingdom in a formidable body, and defeated Egbert near 
Charmouth. On his death, he was succeeded, 837, by Ethelwolf, a mild 
and virtuous prince, of deep piety, but thrown upon hard times, for which 



* This allusion to the Anglican Bishopric established in Jerusalem is not meant in the least to 
express any, the most remote, sympathy with the heterogeneous character of that mission, so 
far as it indicates an Ultra- Protestant bias towards Lutheranism, and an abnegation of Ca- 
tholicism. But it is the only instance that occurs to me, as exactly illustrating the subject in hand ; 
inasmuch as the Greek Church has totally neglected the duty of evangelizing the Jews of the coun- 
try, (just as the Britons acted towards the Saxons), and therefore left the door open for any other 
Church to send a Mission in partes infidelium If that, and the care of members of our own 
Communion, resident in those parts, had been the only office of our Bishop, all Churchmen might 
have hailed the cause with thankfulness ; but the symbolizing with the Lutheran Society of Chris- 
tians, and the direct violation of the Canons of the Church thus recognized, fills our hearts with 
shame and sorrow, and more than justifies, yes, demands, the langiiage of Newman's Sermons on 
Subjects of the Day,}). 379. See Christian Remembrancer, vol. 1%. p. 86, &c. 



LECTURE XIII. THE EARLY HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 103 

he was not fitted. He made a pilgrimage to Rome, at a time when his 
presence was particularly wanted at home ; and soon retired into private 
station, which he was well qualified to adorn. He reminds us forcibly of 
the character of our pious Founder, K. Henry VI, " of whom the world 
was not worthy." His eldest, and only son by his first wife, Athelstan 
by name, became a monk, and is said by Whitaker (an English Clergy- 
man of great repute as an antiquarian) to be the same as we know by the 
name of St. Neot. His four younger sons succeeded him, — Ethelbald, 
857,— Ethelbert, 860, — Ethelred, 866, (who fought 9 set battles with the 
Danes in one year,) — and Alfred the Great, 8/1. Alfred succeeded his 
brother in the 22nd year of his age, and Avas crowned at Winchester. He 
had to oppose the Danes immediately, and with various success. It was 
in 877 that he was obliged to disguise himself as a shepherd, in the I. of 
Athelney, in Somersetshire. In 878 he entered their camp, disguised as a 
harper ; and after having defeated them, converted a large body to Chris- 
tianity. 

One of his great achievements was the equipment of a fleet by means of 
some Frisian seamen, and he put to sea the first English Navy ; and, with 
an omen of British success, defeated the Danes. But Alfred was still 
greater in peace than in war. He found everything in a desperate condi- 
tion ; but he reformed the Church, befriended the poor, revived learning, 
encouraged industry, improved and digested all the Saxon Institutions. 

Historians (says Burke) have one after another attributed to him Trial 
" by Jury, an institution which did not exist till Henry Ilnd's time. He 
' ' did introduce the method of giving bail, the most certain fence against 
*' the abuses of power. It has often been observed, that the times of weak 
" Princes are times favourable to Liberty ; but the wisest and bravest of 
" all the English Princes is the Father of their Freedom.'''' The History of 
England, as we go on, will afford ample proof of the justice and truth of 
this remark, made (be it remembered) by the greatest and most tJioroughly 
Christian lover of our Constitution that England can boast of. The most 
striking part of Alfred's character was his deep piety, {Churtons English 
History, p. 208.) Burke says, "That it was this principle that supported 
" him through all his trials, and fed like a rich stream his civil and military 
" virtues. To his religious duties he devoted a full third of his time." As 
a proof of Hume's unfairness as an historian, and his infidel tendencies, it 
has been shown {Quarterly Review, No. 146,) that he has carefully con- 
cealed every passage or fact that would have displayed Alfred's governing 
principle to have been an active behef in Christianity. He died in 901, 
It would appear that the monarchy was limited in those times by the VVit- 
tenagemote, or Council of Wise men, who elected the Saxon rnonarchs, 
unless the predecessor had named his successor. {Chiirton, p. 230.) This 
council seems to have answered to our House of Lords, in not being re- 
presentative, and to the House of Commons, in not being hereditary. 

Alfred was succeeded by his son Edward the Elder. The reign of this 
latter, and his successors Athelstan, 92.5, Edmund I, 941, Edred, 947, 
and Edwy, were anarchical and tumultuous. Edgar II, son of K. Ed- 
mund, succeeded his brother Edwy, when he was only 16 years old. The 



104 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



celebrated St. Dunstan was his first minister, through whose means the 
monks gave a total overthrow to the secular clergy, whose lives were very 
lax. No man has been more praised and abused by different parties than 
this Archbishop. Probably he was neither so good nor so bad as he is made 
out : but yet, as Churchmen, we are bound to believe that his memory is 
deserving of our respect, as his name has been retained in the Calendar, May 
19. BurkCj with his usual good spirit and judgment, has not even alluded 
to the cahimnious charge brought againsi him, of having contrived the 
death and injury of the seculars at the Council of Calne. If such a charge 
rests upon no evidence whatever, how can we account for the thoughtless 
manner in which many men often calumniate the memory of the dead, 
though they would deem it uncharitable so to judge of or suspect the 
living? How can we account for it, except by reference to the fact, that 
we have lost sight of an article of the Creed — * the Communion of Saints V 
We speak of the dead, as if they were not still in the Church : we forget 
even the world's proverb — ' De mortuis nil nisi bonum.' 

In 975, Edward, surnamed 'the Martyr,' {Pr. Bk. Cal. March 18, 
June 20,) succeeded his father Edgar. He was murdered by his step- 
mother Elfrida, at Corfe Castle ; and his half brother Ethelred, the Un- 
ready, succeeded him, 978 A.D.; in whose reign the Danes were bought 
off by vast sums of money, — an annual tribute of ^48,000, and donations 
amounting to j61 60,000. In order to free themselves from this yoke, the 
Saxons were guilty of a fearful Danish massacre, Nov. 13, 1002. This 
exasperated the Danes at home and abroad, and the next year Sweyn, K. 
of Denmark, invaded and mastered all the kingdom but London. Plis son 
Canute inherited his father's throne and energy. Upon the death of 
Etheldred, Edmund II (Ironside) was crowned at Kingston. He and 
Canute fought several battles. It was at last agreed to decide the war by 
single combat between them, and the I. of Alney, on the Severn, was the 
scene of the lists. Edmund disarmed Canute, but was persuaded to accede 
to a division of the kingdom ; and died soon after. Thus Canute became 
K. of England, and was an excellent Monarch. At his death, 1036, Eng- 
land fell into the hands of his wicked son, Harold I. the Harefoot ; and 
he was succeeded in 1039 by his brother Hardicanute, with whom the 
Danish power ended, and the Saxon line was restored in 1042, by Edward 
the Confessor (P. B. Oct. 13,) a man of similar character to Ethelwolf. 
His reign is marked by the ambitious struggles of the Saxon aristocracy, 
Siward, Earl of Northumberland, and the Earl of Kent ; but more espe- 
cially by the drawing up of the famous code of Laws called Edward the 
Confessor's, which has become the basis of British law. His age is marked 
as the *' Age of Good Sovereigns," viz. St. Adelaide, Regent of Germany, 
and widow of Otho the Great ; St. Stephen, K. of Hungary, and Ladis- 
laus I. his successor; St. Canute, K. of Denmark ; Olaus, of Norway ; 
Robert, of France ; St. Margaret, wife of the murdered Malcolm in Scot- 
land. Observe then the Divine Economy in the gifts and graces vouch- 
safed to the Church, according to circumstances. In each phase new aids 
are raised up to meet new emergencies. The Empire of Rome was con- 
verted by her Martyrs : when the spiritual life of the Church was low, 
and heresies rife, the Benedictine order arose. When the body of Chris- 



LECTURE XIII. THE EARLY HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 105 

tian society was in danger, and political bonds were relaxing, as in tlie 9tli 
and lOtli Centuries, the Church is supplied with secular Princes, deeply 
imbued with a sense of Christian duty. 

Upon Edward's death, Harold, son of Godwin, usurped the throne, 
which Edward had bequeathed to William the Conqueror. Harold II. de- 
feated the Norwegians, under Tosti and the K. Harfager. His enjoyment 
of his victory was but short ; for William the Conqueror landed 4 days 
after, with an army of 60,000 Normans, and defeated Harold at the battle 
of Hastings, 1066 A. D.; and the whole kingdom soon passed into the 
Norman line, owing to the jealousies of the Saxon Dukes and Counts, who 
preferred submitting to a foreign King, rather than to one of their equals, 
especially when backed by the Pope. We are not to suppose, however, 
that the Conquest was completed by this one battle. ^See Thierry, His, 
de la Conquete (translated into English,) and Keightley's Greece^ Pt. I. 
p. 30, 31, and note, for a parallel event.'] 

These Normans were the descendants of the original Danes. One of 
their Chiefs, Rollo, had gained a settlement in France during Alfred's 
reign, and his descendants had reigned as Dukes of Normandy for nearly 
200 years, and adopted the French language and the Christian Religion. 
The relationship of William to the Saxon line was on the female side. 
Etheldred, * the Unready,' had been driven into Normandy, and married 
Emma, the sister of the reigning Duke. Edward the Confessor, being the 
7th son of Etheldred and Emma, was thus connected with William of 
Normandy. The Norman and Saxon lines were united, when Matilda 
(niece of Edward Etheling) married Henry I. of England, son of William 
the Conqueror. 



Geo(jra2)hy, — Arrowsmith's Map of Engla land. 



106 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



LECTURE XIV. 

HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



The History of the Church of Christ is the history of a conflict between 
the powers of evil and the Power of Good. For ever since the Church 
was set up, as the indefectible means in and by which God would save the 
world, the adversary, who cannot destroy, {Matth. XVI. 18.) uses all his 
arts to corrupt it. And this may supply a clue to some grievous blots in 
the Church History, which might otherwise seem inexplicable. Therefore, 
when considering the History of the Y/estern Church under the Homish 
Supremacy, we must bear in mind its two-fold aspect, its True and its 
False character. It was doubtless the author of the greatest blessings to 
Europe in the middle ages, in spite of its many corruptions^ or rather by 
virtue of its many Truths ; (see Luther's testimony on this point y Pal- 
mer's Ch. History, p. 206,) and its vitality seems always. Hydra-like, to 
have been quickened after every more fearful trial. Witness her revival 
from the struggle of the Albigenses in the 1 2th Century; of Wycliffe, 
Jerome, and Huss, in the 14th and 15th ; of Luther in the 16th ; of Vol- 
taire in the 18th. {Macaulay's Essays, vol. III. p. 207.) It is equally 
wrong on the one hand to deny her the marks of a Church, and to call 
her the Antichrist, as if she monopolized the character, and as if it were 
not to be found in our own and every Church : and, on the other hand, to 
shut our eyes to her dangerous errors. The Antichrist, or Man of Sin, 
we believe, has interwoven his threads as it were so finely into the Romish 
garment, that it is most difficult to distinguish the exact lines of Falsehood 
and Error. The reason that as a Church we so protest against Rome is, 
not that we are blind to our own fearful negligences, but that we believe 
their salt has lost much of its savour ; " and if it lose that, wherevv^ith 

shall it be seasoned ?" Corruptio optimi fit pessima. 

The corruption of the Church was doubtless one of the causes, rather, 
was the chief cause of the Reformation ; but it would be unfair to sup- 
pose that all the men and principles on one side (the Reformers) were 
good, and all those on the other side bad. It is on the language and ac- 
knowledgements of the Romanists themselves, respecting the corrupt state 
of the Church, just about the Reformation, that we rest our main proof of the 
necessity for a Reform. It is not that we look upon Henry's character, and 
the part he took in the Reformation, with anything but shame and sorrow. 
{See Melanctfion' s testimony, given in CardweJVs Preface to the Two 
Books of K. Edward Wth.) It is not that we can look upon the Minis- 
ter, Thomas Cromwell, as ought but a sacrilegious appropriator of Church 
Property ; however thankful we may and must be to God, in that He 



LECTURE XIV.— HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



107 



brought good out of all this evil. Bitterly however has and does the 
Cliurch rue many of the sinful deeds of the covetous men, who, like Ge- 
hazi, in vain tried to restore life to the seemingly dead body of the Church. 
Sad indeed is the sight of the Protestants on the Continent, without an 

ephod, and without Teraphim" — without a Bishop and true CLurch 
Government. And most thankful should we be that, as Clarendon says, 
" our Church was reformed with all religious circumstances required 
" thereto ; and she chose rather to endure corruptions for a long time, 
" than precipitately to enter upon any alteration, and by Christian patience 

waited God's own leisure and direction ; and was blessed accordingly." 
(See BramhaWs Worksy Anglo-Cath. Library, vol. 1. p. 39. vol. \1. p. 70. 
vol. III. p. 535. See also JewelVs Apologtj.) 

We must briefly state some of the corruptions that led to the Reforma- 
tion ; then the various attempts that had been made to reform the Church 
before Luther's time ; and lastly the Reformation itself, especially as it 
took place in England. 

L Taking the confessions of Romanists themselves, the Truth had been 
grievously corrupted and suppressed in the two or three Centuries preced- 
ing the Reformation. The preachers at the Council of Trent made the 
pulpit ring with their laments at the profane worldliness, in which Faith 
and Charity had died. Cardinal Pole, who presided at that council, had 
declared that the abuses of the Court of Rome had brought the Church to 
the brink of ruin ; and Erasmus, though he did not forsake the commu- 
nion of Rome, repeatedly complains of the cruelty, ignorance, and super- 
stition of the Monks and Friars of his time, and ascribes their corruptions 
to the covetousness and pride of the Popes and Cardinals of successive 
times. The encroachments of the Popes on the civil power of Sovereigns 
were injurious, so far as they gave a license to laymen and clerics to sin, 
when they knew they could appeal to a distant court, difficult too of access, 
while the trials might be prolonged and worn out by delays. The usurpa- 
tions of the Roman See were wrong in princijjle, and no particular circum- 
stances can make atonement for that. This is the way to view the whole 
Papal Supremacy ; to allow and to thank God for the great services it 
performed, in preserving alive the Truth in the ages of licentious Princes 
and Barons ; to allow that, humanly speaking, we cannot see how the 
Truth could have been saved, had not the Church gathered herself under 
that one head ; but at the same time to feel quite convinced, that God 
would not have deserted His Church, if it had trusted to Him, and waited 
for a miracle, rather than have adopted any human scheme of Policy, such 
as the Papal Supremacy was. This usurpation of Civil power entailed 
upon Rome an endless litigation and political distraction. It was the re- 
sort of idle and dissolute Clergy, who, on their return to their homes, 
spread corruption. 

We must not forget the sad consequences resulting from the licentious 
conduct of some of the members of the Monastic Houses and Mendicant 
Orders, &c. and their exemption from all Episcopal Authority but that of 
Rome. [^See " Chronica Jocelini de Brakelonda,'" reprinted by Camden 
Society, 1840, and translated in " Whittaker' s Library.'"] 

p 2 



108 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



This it was that led to such evil results, and gave their houses the nick- 
name of Cairn's (Cain*s) Castles, the word being formed of the first letters 
of the four chief orders, Carmelites, Ausfinfriars, Jacobins (or Domini- 
cans, ) and Minorites (or Franciscans.) Again, perhaps we may trace 
these several abuses to the great loss the Church sustained, when the 
Bible became a sealed book to the people. In former times, the word of 
God had been read in the English tongue, e. g. under the Venerable Bede ; 
\^ee Christian Remembrancer, No. 48. p. 328. and Sir F. Palgrave' s Anglo- 
Saxon Constitution, p. 163.] but the Latin Vulgate had been introduced 
under the Normans ; and thus to the Church at large one of the wit- 
nesses on Earth" was partially silenced. {Blunfs Reform, p. 64, &c.) 
No doubt however this has been much exaggerated by such writers as 
Robertson and i>' Aubigne. The whole subject has been most admirably 
treated by Mr. Maitland, in his interesting work on " the Dark Ages." 

One of the worst points in the state of the Church was, the blasphe- 
mous way in which curses and excommunications were dealt out, not 
against vice and irreligion, but against the non-payment of tithes and 
Peter-pence. Then again, after the 10th century, many errors in doctrine 
were introduced, such as Transubstantiation, (which was a developement 
of the iinspiritiializing tendency, alluded to before,) Adoration of the 
Blessed Virgin and Saints, the former of which was closely connected with 
the chivalrous spirit of the Crusading age, when woman was Deified ; and 
gradually, we fear, in general practice the Creature was substituted for the 
Creator, as an object of worship. {See Hallam, Const. Hist. vol. II. 580, 
who exculpates the Roman dogmatic articles from the charge of idolatry, 
whatever may be the practical working of the system.) But the sale of 
Indulgences and Pardons is the most painful subject to contemplate, so 
distinctly did it make the Gospel the Religion of the Rich, and not of the 
Poor, — such unbounded licentiousness and superstition did it produce. 

2. What attempts were made to oppose and reform this state of things ? 
Why, undoubtedly, from the very first, there were good and great men in 
the Church, who raised their voices against the corruptions of the time, 
but never thought of acting independently of the Church, and taking upon 
themselves, like Uzzah, to support the Ark in any way which in their hu- 
mility they deemed contrary to God's word. They wished the Church to 
reform itself; they never thought of separating themselves from the 
Church ; but prayed and laboured for its Purification. {See Archd. Man- 
ning's TJniver. Set^mons, p. 80, &c. and his quotations from Gersons 
Works.) And most blessed indeed would it have been, had the Church 
Universal carried on the work of Restoration. But as that was not the 
case, every National Church might use its Jus Cyprium" — its indepen- 
dent right to return to the customs of the ancient Church, instead of ad- 
hering to the innovations of a later period. Is not therefore this *'Jus 
Cyprium" a fact again,st the Developement Theory ? {See Wordsworth's 
Theoph. Angl.p. 125—7. 

There were men like Grostete, {Massingberd, p. 147.) or Greetheed, Bp. 
of Lincoln in 1235 ; Sewell, Abp. of York in 1256 ; Richard, Bp. of Chi- 
chester ; Walter de Merton, founder of Merton College, in Edward Ist's 
Reign ; W. of Wykeham ; William Wainfleet, Provost of Eton, and 
Founder of Magdalen, Oxford ; all of whom appear to have been impressed 



LECTURE XIV. HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 109 

with a sense of the corruptions of the Monasteries, and consequently 
began to build Colleges and Schools, for which we hold their names in 
reverence.* Their names, with those of Bps. Bradwardine and Fitzralph, 
Poore and Hampole, partly belong to the Reformation : not that they did not 
hold some Romish errors, {Massingberd, p. 139,) but all these successively 
endeavoured in theii' several stations to reform the Church lawfully, as 
Gregory VII had done at Rome in the 11th century. But in England 
more especially the forerunner of the Reformation was John WyclilFe, who 
denied the Supremacy of the Pope and several Romish errors, in 1377 
A. D. His great work was the translation of the Bible into English, 1380. 
He was summoned before Synods by the Primate, Abp. Courtney, in Lon- 
don, and his doctrines were condemned. He never left the communion 
of the Church, but died at Lutterworth, 1384. We do not mean to up- 
hold the doctrines of WyclifFe, {Wordsworth'' s Eccl. Biography,^ but 
only go with him so far as he agrees with the teaching of the Primitive 
Church : but we must give him the title of the * Father of the Reforma- 
tion.' (On the Romanists' charge against him, see Massingberd, p. 142.) 
The moment was favourable to the extension of his opinions. The close 
of the 14th century was marked by the Schism in the Papacy, one Pope 
being at Avignon, the other at Rome. To this cii'cumstance probably 
WyclifFe was indebted for the peaceable end of his life : but 41 years after 
his death, the Council of Constance condemned his bones to be exhumed, 
burnt, and cast into the brook called '''the Swift," which (says Ful- 
ler, the Worthy,) *'bore them to the Avon, that to the Severn, the 
Severn to the Sea, to be dispersed to all lands ; which things are an 
"allegory." — Nevertheless this same Council was assembled in 1414 to 
reform the Church : but Schism soon appeared in the Councils, as in 
Christendom. The Pope refused to submit to the Councils. However, 
Reforms did partially result from these Councils. In France, K. Charles 
VII instituted a Reform, called the Pragmatic Sanction,t in 1438, which 
was declared Law also in Germany, but soon was abolished in both coun- 
tries, about 1448 in Germany, 1516 in France. It is much to be regretted 
that the Councils of Constance and Basle did not effect their legitimate 
reforms, and so have prevented the tumultuous attempts of John Huss, 
and Jerome of Prague, who had gained a knowledge of Wychffe's writings 
from Lord Cobham, who was sent to Bohemia on a state mission. They 
were condemned and burnt as heretics. 

About the same time, in England, Lord Cobham was tried and con- 
demned as a Lollard, {oY singing ]iQj:etic.) This was indeed a sad period 
in English History, when Arundel was Primate, and Henry IV. (Bohng- 
broke,) King ; and this loth century witnessed the murderous conflicts of 
York and Lancaster. Henry V. was well-disposed to Lord Cobham, and 
tried much to talk him over, but in vain ; and so he was handed over to 
the Ecclesiastical powers. He was put into prison, but escaped, and took 
up arms against his sovereign ; was taken prisoner in Wales ; and was 
burnt to death in St. Giles'. His treasonable conduct was fatal to the 
LoUards. 



* See Appendix at the end of this Lecture, 
t This must not be confused with St. Louis' Prag-matic Sanction, given by Hal/am, Middle 
Ages, vol. II. p. 302. On this Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges in 1438, see llallmn, p. 364. 



110 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



3. The actual Reformation in Germany we may date from 1520, when 
Luther publicly burnt at Wittemberg the bull of Leo X. 

He was summoned to Ro7ne by the Pope, to answer for his conduct, in 
the year 1518, but obtained permission to plead his cause at Augsburg, 
and was excommunicated two years afterwards. He threw off his mo- 
nastic habit, A. D. 1524, and married in the following year ; and went 
such lengths as to formally authorize bigamy in a public apology for 
Philip of Hesse. A Diet was held at Spires A. D. 1529, at which a 
decree was passed, declaring it to be unlawful to introduce any change 
in the doctrine, discipline, or worship of the established religion, before 
the determinations of a general council were known. This decree was 
exceedingly revolting to the Elector of Saxony (Luther's great friend,) 
and to many other princes, as well as to the deputies of 14 imperial cities, 
who in a body, when they found their arguments and remonstrances of no 
avail, entered their solemn protest against it, on the 1 9th of April in the 
same year, appealing to the Emperor of Germany and a future council. 
On this account they were distinguished by the name of Protestants. 

After various measures had been proposed, both by the Emperor 
Charles V. and the Protestants, for the restoration of peace and unity, the 
former, in 1541, appointed a conference at Worms, (which was afterwards 
removed to Ratisbon,) where Melancthon and Eckius held a disputation, 
which continued three days. The Pope issued circulars convening a gene- 
ral council, to meet at Trent, whilst the Protestants objected both to his 
summoning it in his own name and on his own authority, and likewise to 
the place of meeting. Upon this the Emperor, at the instigation of Paul, 
determined to have recourse to arms : the princes of Hesse and Saxony 
raised an army for their own defence ; but before affairs were brought to 
a crisis, Luther died at Wittemberg, Feb. 18, A. D. 1546. [For his cha- 
racter, see Edinburgh Rev. Oct. 1834 ; and Sir W. Hamilton on the 
Scotch Kirk.'] With regard to the Foreign Reformation, the following 
extract from Abp. Abbot's memoranda is very interesting. He says, 
*' Perusing some papers of our Predecessor, Matthew Parker, we find that 
" John Calvin, and others of the Protestant Churches of Germany, would 
**have had Episcopacy, if permitted. For whereas Calvin had sent a 
" letter in King Edward Vlth's reign, to have conferred with the Clergy of 
*' England about some things to this effect, the two Popish Bishops, viz. 
" Gardiner and Bonner, intercepted the same, whereby Mr. Calvin's over- 
" ture perished : from which time Calvin and the Church of England were 
*'at variance on several points." See Strype^s Cranmer, 207. Parker, 69. 
Annals L 259. Marshall's Episcopal Polity, 315. 

The period from 1520, to the treaty of Westphalia in 1648, is a melan- 
choly tissue of conflicts and wars between the Protestants and Roman Ca- 
tholics. After the treaty of Westphalia, Religion ceased to be the domi- 
nant principle in the policy, relations, and alliances of states. Europe has 
since presented to the world the awful aspect of a Political Unity not 
based on Christian Principle. {Guizot, Lect. XIL) 

Doubtless God is working out great ends in spite of, and even by our 
Religious Disunion, and social Union. England seems to be specially 
called, through her commerce, maritime greatness, and vast Empire, to 
evangelize the world. Meantime the Church sighs for Unity. We must 



LECTURE XIV. HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. Ill 



bide God's time ; — anything rather than compromise Truth. The Prayer 
for Unity, in the Church Service for the Queen's Accession, will show us 
the view to be taken of our position.* 

We come to the special consideration of the English Reformation. Tt 
ought to be hardly necessary to premise, that the Church of England does 
not commence with that period ; that it does uot trace its origiuy but its 
restoration and purification, to the Martyrs of 1555. The papal jurisdic- 
tion in England does not seem to have been introduced by the Church 
itself in Convocation, (like as it was in Ireland, at the Synod of Cashel, 
1172 ;) but by the individual acts of archbishops. It was not tiU 1125 
A. D. that the Pope had any jurisdiction in England. St. Anselm and 
many others had before acknowledged him as the chief Bishop of the 
Church, but they never allowed him any authority in the government of 
the temporal affairs (which were under the kings, ) or the spiritual (which 
were under the Archbishop of Canterbury.) William of Corboil, 1125, was 
the first Archbishop who betrayed the hberty of the English Church to 
the Pope, and professed to act as his Legate. Stephen Langton was the 
first Archbishop appointed by the Pope, 1207. From 1125, for 400 
years, it remained under Rome ; and though some of the hands engaged 
in conducting the Reformation were far from clean, and though many 
acts of sacrilege were committed in the course of it, yet we have to thank 
God that the Church came out of the furnace purified as it is, and without 
having lost (as the Reformed parties on the Continent did,) its ApostoK- 
cal Constitution. Our Church in Convocation threw off the yoke which 
individuals had put upon her. {Pahner^ Ch. Hist. p. 25i.) But never- 
theless the Church did not wish to break off Communion with Rome ; as 
a proof of which, it should be carefully observed, that the Romanists re- 
mained in communion with our Church for 36 years after the abjuring 
Synod, from 1534 to 1570, A. D. Is not our case that in Acts XYI. 37 ? 

We confessed that some hands engaged in the Reformation were not 
clean, j- We allude more particularly to Henry VIII. His character is a 
perfect puzzle. Not that we can have any hesitation in saying, he was a 
disgrace to the great cause his passions led him to advocate ; but that he 
was not aware himself of his own real character. That is the wonder. 
Other tyrants felt something like remorse at their deeds of blood. Cali- 
gula shuddered at imaginary phantoms ; and Nero started at unearthly 
trumpet- sounds over his mother's grave. Charles the IX. of France saw 
bloody streaks in the sky, and was haunted with the memory of the mur- 
dered Huguenots. But never did Henry VIII. seem to have the least 
misgiving that he was not the best king, and most faithful Catholic, and 
Defender of the Faith, that ever lived. Wife after wife, friend after friend, 
perished by the axe of his slaves, but no troublesome spectres marred his 
amusements at Greenwich. It was his scruple concerning the lawfulness 
of his marriage with Catherine, his elder brother's widow, that led to the 



* The Chiircli o;/^/!^ to be one;— but so it ought to be ifoZj/, and Universal: yet we know that 
it is full of imperfections, and far from being- universally spread : yet in Christ, as the Individual 
member, so the Body, has 2i perfect imputed, and an imperfect inherent righteousness. 

t Dr. x\rmold says the same, and strongly. He considered that it was a good deal ?adly marred 
by wicked men who conducted it, and that being the child of aristocratical and regal selfishness, 
the Church had never since dared to speak boldly to the great, but had contented itself with lectur- 
ing the poor. 



112 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



rupture with Rome. The Universities of Europe were appealed to at 
Cranmer's suggestion, and d<;cided against Catherine ; whereupon Henry 
married Anna Boleyn in 1532. (Shakespeare, Henry VIII. Coleridge^ 
Table Talk, p. 104.) 

The great blow was struc^^", when the Bishops and Clergy, assembled 
in the provincial synods of Canterbury and York in 1534 A. D. declared 
that " by the word of God, the Bishop of Rome had no jurisdiction in 

England," one Bishop only (Fisher) refusing to agree to this decree. 
[This Fisher, Bp. of Rochester, was a most amiable man, and was after- 
wards beheaded as a traitor, at nearly the same time with Sir T. More, 
153.''», being convicted on evidence that it is painful to think an English 
Court of Justice could have ever entertained.] The reign of Henry VIII, 
after this, presents little but a series of the acts of an unrestrained tyrant. 
His ministers were weak men, and some of them bad besides. Thomas 
Cromwell was appointed commissioner for inspecting Monasteries, which 
were all suppressed, whether in good or bad discipline, and their property 
confiscated.* Some portion of this was bestowed in founding six new Bi- 
shoprics, and improving the Colleges for Education ; but the great pro- 
portion was sacrilegiously appropriated by the King and his followers. If 
this property was left, in many instances, for purposes which the Church 
declared contrary to God's word, such as saying Masses for the Dead, &c. 
of course the practice was properly stopped ; but the funds bequeathed 
for the purposes ought not to have been appropriated to secular objects ; 
but, according to the principles of the Church, and common Equity, 
should have been applied to some religious service, which the Church did 
allow, as nearly as possible akin to the will of the charitable Testator, — 
what the Law calls " ci prfes." The Six Articles prove Henry Vlllth to 
have been a Romanist in all but the Supremacy, — a point of pride, not 
opinion. They are given in Blunfs Ref. p. 170, and ClaughtorCs XXXIX 
Articles, Appendix. 

On the death of Henry, in 1547, and Edward's Vlth's accession, the 
work of Reformation proceeded at first most satisfactorily. The Puritani- 
cal party however began to gain influence ; and perhaps we have reason 
to be thankful that the Reformation was consohdated by Elizabeth rather 
than Edward VI. who, though pious and excellent in himself, was too 
young not to be a mere instrument in the hands of others, who were 
giving up Catholic Truths for Puritanical Innovations. The parallelism 
of his character and acts with Josiah's (2 Kings, XXII. 3 — 14) is very 
striking : their similar ages, their revival of the more general study of 
the Word of God, and the due celebration of their respective Sacraments, 
make the comparison very interesting. {See the First Part of the Homily 
against Wilful Rebellion. ) 

On the death of Edward, and the accession of Mary, the popish party 
regained the ascendant for a time, and bitter persecutions ensued. No 
fewer than fourteen Bishops were expelled from their Sees ; several hun- 
dred persons were put to death ; Ridley and Latimer were burnt at Ox- 
ford in 1555, 'witnessing a good confession' to the end. Unhappily 
Cranmer failed at the last trial, and recanted ; but finding he was going 



* There were 645 Monasteries, 90 Colleges, (probably not Educational) 2,374 Chapels and Chan- 
tries, and 110 Hospitals destroyed in this reign. 



LECTURE XIV. HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



113 



to be put to death nevertheless, he publicly retracted again. " To con- 
*' ceal this fault" (as Fuller, the Worthy, says about Jewell's Apostacyi 
on a somewhat similar occasion) *' had been partiality ; to excuse it, 

flattery; to defend it, impiety; to insult over him, cruelty; to pity 
*' him, charity ; to be wary of ourselves on any like occasion. Christian 
" discretion." Who will not bethink himself of the Burial service of the 
Church — " Suffer us not at our last hour, &c."? 

Queen Mary (who was probably neither so good, or so bad, as she is 
represented by opposite Parties,) died in 1558 ; and the accession of Q. 
Elizabeth restored the Church to its reformed state. In 1562, the Church 
in Convocation pubhshed the XXXIX Articles, and in 1571 ordered them 
to be subscribed by all the Clergy. 

The Reformation in Ireland was (we must confess) apparently not so 
satisfactory as our own. (See Harris^ ed. of Ware on Ireland, vol. J. p, 
92.349 — 351.) It had formally, in the Synod of Cashel, accepted the 
Papal yoke ; and there is no evidence of its ever having legitimately 
thrown off that yoke by an assembly of the Clergy.* There was an assem- 
blage in 1551, when Abp. Dowdall and the Romish Bishops left the Con- 
vocation ; and Abp. Brown and 3 or 4 others passed a resolution for ad- 
ministering the Church Services according to the English Ritual. Again, 
19 or 20 Irish Bishops were present in Parliament 1560, and 17 of them 
approved the measures passed there ; which however is but a poor substi- 
tute for the Canonical Synod of the Church. This informality (perhaps 
it is not presumptuous to say) the Irish Church and nation have since 
bitterly rued, and are rueing. In 1634, the Synod of Dublin accepted 
the EngHsh Confession of Faith. As much stress is laid upon the origi- 
nal succession being retained by the Irish Protestants, and not by the 
Romanist Bishops, it is as weU to remark, that the Apostolical succession 
of St. Patrick will not counterbalance a schismatic movement, unwarranted 
by the Church, any more than in the case of the Arian and Donatist 
Heresies ; and moreover the change of succession is not material, else we 
should condemn the pure and persecuted branch of the Church in Scot- 
land, which lost St. Ninian's and St. Mungo's Orders, and received a new 
succession from Canterbury, 1610 and 1662. [Collier, viii. p. 447. and 
Spottiswoode Miscellany, vol. I. History of the Scottish Church.] 

It would appear that the Irish Protestants are nearly all of them of 
Saxon origin, and indeed it has been said by the Abbe Geogehgan, that 
only 60 native Irish Celts ever became Protestants in the first I 00 years 
after the Reformation. The Protestants are and always were nothing but 
a mere military colony in a conquered country, and must be looked upon 
as an off-shoot of the English Church, just as exists in Canada and Aus- 
tralia. The Erastianism and degradation of the Irish Church Establish- 
ment, and England's treatment of her, before and -since the Reformation, 
is so dark a spot in England's escutcheon, that a just retribution is 
come upon us, and many are the calls to repentance. 



* The only evidence adduced is a MS. attributed to Dudley Loftus, who wrote 1640, in which 
he speaks of a Convocation having been held 1560, to settle the Reformation. The Parliament of 
Ireland had forced the Clergy since 1536 to acknowledge the King's Supremacy. Moreover, Ware 
shows that Irish Bishops {not titular,) in possession of their Sees, were present at the Council of 
Trent in 1563, after this supposed Convocation of 1560. 

Q 



114 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



The Reformation of Scotland is a far more questionable subject. The 
Church never reformed itself, and was at first conscious of and sorrowful 
for the informality. Afterwards, Calvinistic doctrines and Genevan disci- 
pline were introduced by John Knox, and Presbyterianism has been made 
the established Religion of the land. {Palmer on the Church.) 

It remains to allude to the remarkable Religious Massacres which the 
Papists devised and executed against most of the Protestant Communities 
of Europe, but from which the Church in England was Providentially 
delivered. 

In France, the Huguenots were favoured by the Queen of Navarre, and 
her son Henry IV. of France ; but in 1572 took place the fearful massa- 
cre on St. Bartholemew's eve, commanded by Charles IX. They were 
tolerated by the edict of Nantes 1598, which Louis XIV revoked in 1685, 
and so drove numbers into exile. 

In Ireland, a similar massacre was secretly planned and executed, Oct. 
23, 1641, in Charles I. reign, on which occasion 150,000 perished. 

In England, the Gunpowder Plot of 1 605 was Providentially discovered 
and prevented. 

The Church (says Bp. Hall) is represented by "The Burning Bush."— 
How oft has it been flaming, and never consumed ! To none but His 
enemies is God a consuming Fire ! 

The subsequent work of Reformation has been ably discussed in Mac- 
aulays Essays, vol. III. It is not a little striking, that its principles 
never made much progress beyond the Teutonic race. The remarkable 
exceptions to this are — the Teutonic Austrians being subject to Rome, and 
the Celtic Highlanders of Scotland being Presbyterians. 



Geography, — A. D. 1500. England, Ireland, and Scotland as at present. Spain 
and Portugal as at present, except at the S. E. corner of the Bay of Biscay was the 
diamond-shaped K. of Navarre, lying between the and 3 W. Long, and 42 and 43 
N. Lat. A line drawn from Calais to Nice will give France. Between that line and 
15 E. Long, lay the German Empire, as far S. as 46 N. Lat. Then, S. of that, be- 
ween 46 and 44 N. Lat. lay the Duchy of Milan : the rest of Italy nearly as at pre- 
sent. On the S. E. of the German Empire, between 45 and 49 N. Lat. and between 
15 and 25 E. Long., lay Hungary. On the E. of it, nearly to the Black Sea, were 
Wallachia (South,) Moldavia (North.) On the E. of North Germany, and above 
Hungary and Moldavia, lay Poland, drawing a line from the Mouth of the Vistula to 
the Crimea. North East of Poland lay Lithuania, being about the same extent in 
width and length as Poland. The Ottoman Empire comprised Turkey in Europe and 
Asia Minor. The Mamelukes possessed Syria and Egypt. 



LECTURE XIV. HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION. 



115 



APPENDIX TO NOTE IN PAGE 109. 



I cannot refrain from inserting the following striking passage from the Bishop of 
Lincoln's late address, after a Confirmation held at Eton College, on the Eve of All 
Saints' Day, 1844 :— 

" If we were required to point out the most disastrous period of English History, 
we should, perhaps, fix upon the reign of Henry the Sixth. In his earlier years he 
saw the foreign possessions, acquired by his father's victories, successively wrested 
from his hands ; and, towards its close, he saw his kingdom wasted by the fury of 
civil war, and the blood of his subjects profusely shed in the unnatural contest. He 
himself, meanwhile, appeared in no degree to influence the progress of events, which 
were to terminate in the loss of his sceptre and his life. Transferred from a throne 
to a prison, and again from a prison to a throne, he seemed to be the sport of fortune ; 
a merely passive instrument in the hands of others ; a spectator, rather than an actor, 
in the eventful drama. His thoughts and aflfections were fixed upon very diflFerent 
objects from those for which worldly ambition contends. Bent on securing for him- 
self an imperishable crown, he felt little solicitude about the perishable crown which 
was to be the prize of the victor in the bloody strife. The world, therefore, while 
it has bestowed on him some portion of its pity, as on one who underwent much un- 
merited suffering, has pronounced him unfit for the station which he filled, and utterly 
useless in his generation. Yet it has pleased the Almighty to ordain that this de- 
spised, this suffering monarch, should exercise a more powerful and more permanent 
influence over future ages, than many princes whose exploits are the theme of the 
world's applause. What traces can we now discern of the effects produced by his 
father's victories ? They form a page, a brilliant page in our history, on which we 
dwell with exultation, and which has inspired many a bosom with the desire of mili- 
tary glory. But as to any present influence on the interests of the country, they are 
as if they had never been; whereas the foundation of Eton College exercises an influ- 
ence which is now felt, and will continue to be felt to the remotest times. To the 
intellectual and moral training to which the youthful mind is here subjected, we owe, 
perhaps more than any single cause, the formation of that national character, which 
has, under the Divine blessing, raised our country to its eminent position among the 
people of the earth. 

" But why do I draw your attention to the history of your royal founder ? Not for 
the purpose of setting before you an illustration, how striking soever, of the instability 
of all human power and greatness, or of the wonderful manner in which the Almighty 
causes all events to contribute to the accomplishment of the ends which He has in 
view — though on both those topics his history would supply matter for profitable 
meditation ; — but in order to draw from it a practical lesson for your guidance in 
your passage through the world into which you are about to enter, and of which 
you have this day solemnly promised to renounce the pomps and vanities." 



LECTURE XV. 



THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION, AND 
THE STUART DYNASTY. 



The trueiorm of Government of course would be the Divine, (a Theo- 
cracy,) the Bishops, Priests, aud Deacons having the charge of Spiritual 
and Temporal works of mercy. Acts VI. — and civil matters among Chris- 
tians being conducted according to 1 Cor. VI. 1 — 7. That is what 
ought to be the condition of the Christian world : but as men do not live as 
they ought, a lower state is necessary (1 Sam. VIII.) in which the (^ivil 
Power is required "to be a terror to the wicked." Just as in the spiritual 
life of the individual Christian the VIII^A Chap, of Romans describes 
him as he ought to be, but the VII^^^ applies to him as he generally is, 
fallen far short of his estate ; and the two together describe his real character. 

The Government of England has always been one of those limited 
monarchies, which the Celtic and Gothic tribes appear to have universally 
established, in preference to the hereditary despotism of the East, 
the military tyranny of Rome and Constantinople, or the various 
models of republican polity tried by the Italian States. Each form 
of government will give scope to a Churchman for the play and cul- 
tivation of Christian virtues; and his principle is, submission to the 
Powers that 6e," even though they may be wicked and tyrannical as 
Nero. The unlimited monarchy trains up a character of trust, but has 
its dangerous tendencies towards abject slavery of body and mind : the 
mixed monarchy gives an opportunity for the * * service of perfect freedom, 
— the reasonable sacrifice" of loyalty ; but, from its being a system of 
checks and balances, tends to lead to a suspicious distrust of rulers. It 
will be evident, therefore, that the free constitution of Government under 
which we live is capable of forming the highest of all characters. Thus, 
it is like our Branch of the Church Catholic ; whereas the unlimited mon- 
archy resembles the Romish system of Despotic authority. Our liberty as 
citizens and Christians does not consist in being exempt from, but in being 
all equally subject to the Law — "the perfect Law of Liberty." The Monar- 
chical form of Government seems most consistent with the voice of nature, 
as being that of a Father of a Family in an enlarged sense. [See \st Part of 
the Homily on Rebellion.'] It should be observed, however, that the fitness 
for free institutions, or the contrary, depends mainly on two things. 
Istly. The condition and character of the Church in a nation. 2ndly. 
The original stock of the people. No lapse of time can efface the charac- 
ter of different races : e. g. the Gaul and the German stiJl retain many of 
their respective peculiarities, just as they were described by Csesar and 
Tacitus. It was under despotic sway that the Spaniard, — under free in- 
stitutions the Anglo-Saxon, trod their respective paths to empire : and their 



LECTURE XV. ENGLISH CONSTITUTION, & STUART DYNASTY. 11/ 

histories in the Western and Eastern Hemispheres most clearly show, that 
free institutions are the greatest of political blessings or curses, according 
to the race and calibre of the people on whom they are bestowed. 

It is very remarkable, that in all ages of the Church, in all countries, 
under many different forms of Government, the character formed on the 
true Catholic principles never seeins to vary. There is a family likeness 
in them all, which is to be found nowhere else. St. Polycarp, of the 
2nd Century — St. Athanasius, of the 4th — St. Benedict, of the 5th — St. 
Anselm, of the 11th — St. Bernard, of the 12th — William of Wykeham, of 
the 15th — Ridley and Francis Xavier, of the 16th — Laud, Hooker, Bp. 
Ken, Hammond, of the 17th — Bp. Wilson, of Sodor and Man, in the 18th — 
Bp. Jolly, of the 19th — all alD^e may be judged by the same standard 
and principles ; whereas other great and partially good men (such as 
Wesley,) educated in other than the Catholic system of the Church, 
require to have allowances made for the spirit of the age they Hved 
in, and the like, — in short, are not complete in their character. 
Throughout the whole History of the Church we find the likeness of 
Christians to their Lord, to be the living basis of CathoHc Unity. One 
common type held them all. In all ages, in all lands, in all languages, in 
aU diversities of outward state, in the Churches of Asia and Africa, in the 
East and in the West, there was one common type of spiritual perfection 
impressed upon all. And as all national diversities were lost in the one 
CathoHc Church, so were all oppositions of personal character merged in 
the one Pattern of Life. How different soever men were before their con- 
version, by the traditions of nation and home, by cast of mind or habits of 
life, as Justin and Ambrose, Vincentius and Augustin, soldiers, statesmen, 
pleaders, rhetoricians, philosophers, all were assimilated by one dominant 
spiritual energy, transfiguring them into a form above themselves. And 
no other account can be given" of the unearthly sight, the visible miracle 
of countless human wills held in a balance, than that the visible Church 
was an outward sign of the Invisible Dominion of " the mind that was in 
Christ Jesus." {Archdeacon Manning's Sermon on the Mind of Christ.) 

The English Constitution, with which we have been blessed, arrived at 
its present state gradually, being now more limited than at first. We saw 
that the good K. Alfred was the Father of our Freedom. It seems no less 
of States than Individuals, that " where the Spirit of the Lord is, 
there is Liberty;" the purport of which Truth was felt by Aristotle, {Polit. 
VII. 2. Ethic. I. 2.) The Normans introduced the Feudal System, and 
enslaved the people. And yet (as Guizot says, Essai 6me Chap. Ime) it is 
probably to the Norman Conquest that we owe the permanent estabhsh- 
ment of our Constitutional Liberties ; for suffering is sometimes as good 
for states as individuals. 

The Normans had been nearly 200 years in Normandy (since 911 A.D.) 
and the Saxons 500 in England. The conquest was that of one nearly 
barbarian people over another, of similar habits, origin, institutions, and 
faith. It is true that the Anglo-Saxon laws were the cradle of our liber- 
ties ; but it was the Norman Conquest that impressed upon their institu- 
tions their stamp of permanence. Guizot beheves that the germ of the 
Feudal System existed in the Anglo-Saxon institutions before the Norman 
Conquest. Harold usm-ping the throne of Edgar Atheling is a close 



118 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



parallel to Hugh Capet's Feudal victory over the Carlo vingian Dynasty. 
The Wittenagemote of England is the counterpart of the Champs du 
Mars of France. On the Anglo-Saxon Constitution, Guizot says, that 
Turner's work is to be thoroughly trusted for facts, though it contains 
little in the way of ideas and principles. 

Thus it is highly probable that the fate of England would have been 
similar to that of France, and the system have fallen first into a state of 
anarchy, then under an aristocratic tyranny, — -just like the Frankish 
FeudaUsm. The apparent cause of the great distinction between the Con- 
stitutional History of France and England is, that in Gaul the Franks 
were able to disperse themselves in small bands, and hardly any insurrec- 
tions occur of the ancient inhabitants against their new masters (but all 
the struggles were between the conquerors themselves); whereas in En- 
gland the Saxons were continually rallying their forces against the Nor- 
man Conquerors ; and the establishment of William was not altogether the 
work of force, for at his coronation he swore to govern the two people 
with equal justice. In France there remained nothing of the political in- 
stitutions of the ancient Gauls, but only their civil laws, whereas in En- 
gland their political institutions were animated with fresh life, and became 
doubly valued. The Gaulish-Romans, except in a few cities, had disap- 
peared, politically speaking, and fallen well-nigh into slavery ; though the 
present state of France exhibits much more of the Celtic element of the 
Gauls, than the Teutonic character of the Franks ; and probably we may 
trace this absorption of the Frankish Language and moral features to the 
Crusades. The Saxons ever continued to exist as a nation, and on their 
part too have well-nigh absorbed the Norman element. 

With regard to the real nature of the early parliaments, it has been the 
habit of some to boast that a House of Commons is prior in date to a 
House of Lords ; meaning I suppose that there was no hereditary body 
till after the existence of an elective one. But yet the original parliament 
would seem to have been rather an assembly of the Kings Vassals than 
anything else, and therefore as we have seen before, respecting the heneficia 
of the vassals, that they became hereditary very soon, it is probable the 
CQmmune concilium, or curia regis, became so too well-nigh from the first 
period of the Norman conquest, as it is more than probable these last intro- 
duced the Feudal system, such as it was, in its full Frankish developement. 

On this interesting subject, see Edinburgh 'Review, No. 69. March, 
1821, which is highly spoken of by Guizot, and contains considerable ex- 
tracts from a valuable work, published in 1820, called " a Report from the 
Lord's Committee, appointed to search for all matter touching the dignity 
of a peer of the realm." 

On the Royal prerogative and personal inviolability, see Guizot, Essai 
6me, p. 291 and 304, and also the same pages and 302 and 3, on the 
24 barons of Simon de Leycester, and their constitutional authority. The 
excesses of this committee remind one very much of the Roman Decem- 
virs, and Simon Leycester particularly resembles Appius Claudius in his 
tyranny. Guizot, p. 309. 

The wicked Forest-laws of William L are sad records of cruelty. In 
1085 he laid waste and dispeopled 30 miles extent of land, to make the 
New Forest. But the quarrels and jealousies of the Kings and the Barons 



LECTURE XV.— ENGLISH CONSTITUTION, & STUART DYNASTY. 119 

made the former concede many things to the People, and united them for 
the purpose of resisting the Barons. Henry II. is supposed to have 
granted Trial by Jury {TytleVy vol. II. sect. 59.) But see Guizot, p. 295, 
note 3, which looks very hke it in William the Conqueror's time. John, 
having submitted this kingdom to the Pope, was forced by the Barons to 
grant Magna Charta, June 15, 1215, which was rather a ratification of 
former rights, given by Henry I., than an extortion of new ones. So far 
their conduct seems justifiable : — not so, when they did homage to Louis, 
as K. of England. By this charter, ! . The freedom of election to bene- 
fices was confirmed to the Clergy. 2. No taxes to be levied unless with 
consent of the great council. 3. The vassals of the Lords to share the 
privileges of the Kings' great vassals. 4. All men to be allowed to pass 
out of the country at wiU. 5. No person to be tried without evidence. 
6. No person to be tried but by his peers. It was in Henry Illrd's reign, 
or rather during his deposition, that Knights of the Shires (Bachelaria 
CommunitaSy Guizot, p. 305.) and Burgesses of the Towns were first sum- 
moned to Parhament by the Earl of Leicester. The word " Parliament'* 
occurs first in Matthew Paris, 1246 A. D. Edward I. acknowledged 
its authority, and the Magna Charta was confirmed eleven times in his 
reign. In the 15th year of Edward II. (1322,) the triple estate of King, 
Lords, and Commons, is distinctly noticed ; though, by the way, the three 
estates of Parhament are— the Lords Temporal, the Lords Spiritual, and 
the Commons, under " our most rehgious Queen assembled." 

The progress of the Constitution was suspended by the civil wars of 
York and Lancaster ; to understand the rights of which, strict attention 
must be paid to the question of genealogy. (See Shakespeare, Henri/ 
Ylth, Part I. Act. 2. Sc. 5.) [Arnold, Mod. Hist. Led. 2. p. 146, has 
remarked on the importance of attending to genealogies, as one of the pe- 
culiarities of Modern History, and instances the great French wars of 
Charles Vlllth and Lewis Xllth, in Italy, during the 15th and 16th Cen- 
turies, which Philip de Comines witnessed and recorded ; and more par- 
ticularly the war of the Spanish Succession.] The rights of both Prince 
and People seem to have been forgotten in those wars, and the race of 
Tudor assumed an unconstitutional and almost despotic sway. But the 
encroachments on the part of the Tudor Dynasty brought a melancholy 
retribution on the heads of their successors, — the unfortunate Stuarts, 
who lost their thrones by attempting to maintain and assert the preroga- 
tive transmitted to them by the Tudors. Hallam {Constitut. Hist. vol. I. 
p. 46.) attributes the encroachments of the Tudors to the pusillanimous 
spirit of the nobles of Henry Vlllth's time, the jealousy of the two reli- 
gious Parties, and the excessive jurisdiction of the Star-Chamber, a sort of 
Imperium in Imperio, being a selected portion of the Privy Council. We 
must look upon Charles 1st as undoubtedly acting on a principle of duty, 
as he conceived, when he was maintaining the prerogative of his predeces- 
sors, and was anxious to transmit it unimpaired to his successors ; even 
though we may beheve that a wiser Monarch would have known how 
" stare super antiquas vias," and have fallen back upon the Principles of 
the Constitution. He was compelled to sign the Petition of Rights, in 
1628, the four chief clauses of which were against the exaction of money 
under the name of loans, — the commitment of those who refused com- 



120 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



pliance, — the billeting of soldiers on private persons, for purposes of in- 
timidation and annoyance, — and the commission to try all military offen- 
ders by martial law. Under Charles the Ilnd, the Habeas Corpus was 
granted, which gives the utmost security to personal liberty ; for by it 
every accused person must be brought before a judge, and the cause of his 
detainer certified, and the judge's authority interposed. Hallam says, 
that this was no new principle of the law, for it existed in and before 
Magna Charta ; but it was a remedy of abuses that had crept in. {Const. 
Hist. vol. II. p. 172.) James the Ilnd aimed at obtaining a repeal of this 
Act, which he reckoned as destructive of the Monarchy, as the Test act 
(which excluded Romanists from office) was injurious to his Religion. 
His invasion of these parts of the Constitution drove him from the throne ; 
and the result has been a considerable degradation of the Monarchy. The 
great change that took place in the Constitution, at the Revolution of 
1688, may be seen, by comparing the Coronation Oath of the Stuarts, 
with that taken now. The oath taken by James 1st and Charles 1st 
(being the same exactly as was taken by Richard Ilnd) ran as foUows : — 

* * 1 . Sir, Will you grant and keep, and by your oath confirm to the people 
of England, the laws and customs granted to them by the Kings of En- 
gland ; and especially the laws, customs, and franchises granted to the 
Clergy and to the people by the glorious King St. Edward, your Prede- 
cessor? 2. Sir, will you keep to the Church of God, (the Clergy and 
People,) peace and concord in God entirely, according to your power? 
3. Sir, will you to your power cause law, justice, and discretion in mercy 
and truth to be executed in aU your judgments ? 4. Sir, will you grant 
to hold and keep the laws and rightful customs which the commonalty 
of your kingdom have ; and to defend and uphold them to the honour of 
God, so much as in you lie ?" — After the Revolution, the first question was 
altered thus : — " Will you solemnly promise and swear, to govern the 
people of this kingdom of England, and the dominions thereto belonging, 
according to the statutes in Parliament agreed on^ and the laws and cus- 
toms of the same ?" — The second was omitted. In the third, the word 

* discretion' was omitted. For the Fourth, is substituted, — " Will you, to 
the utmost of your power, maintain the laws of God, the true profession 
of the Gospel, and the Protestant Reformed Religion established by the 
Law ? and will you preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of this Realm, 
and to the Churches committed to them, all such rights and privileges as 
by law do or shall appertain unto them or any of them ?" {Blackstone, I. 
235.) We see, by a comparison of these two oaths, that the one taken 
before the Revolution recognizes the King to be the source of Law, but 
not in the sense that he could enact laws at his will ; whereas a new prin- 
ciple was introduced after the Revolution, recognizing Parliament as the 
legislative power, and making the King*s prerogative consist in the execu^ 
tive ; — a system so admired by Montesquieu. 

The accession of James 1st to the throne of England, 1 603, by heredi- 
tary right as well as the appointment of Queen Elizabeth, united the two 
kingdoms of England and Scotland, of which latter crown he was called 
James Vlth. He was the son of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, and the 
unhappy Mary Queen of Scots. She was the only child of James Vlth, 
and Margaret, the eldest Daughter of Henry Vllth, king of England, and 
therefore Aunt of Elizabeth. James 1st was a learned, but weak and self- 



LECTURE XV. ENGLISH CONSTITUTION, & STUART DYNASTY. 121 



indulgent man. It was in the 2nd year of his reign (1604, Jan. 14.) that 
he presided at the Hampton conference between the Church and Puri- 
tans. The present translation of the Bible was about this time ordered to 
be made. In 1 605 was the famous Gunpowder Plot, which the king dis- 
covered. The authors of it were Catesby, Sir Everard Digby, Francis 
Tresham, Percy, a relative of the Northumberland family, and Guido 
Fawkes, a soldier of fortune. The plot was frustrated in consequence of 
a letter received by Lord Mounteagle, cautioning him against attending in 
Parliament, and supposed to have been written by Tresham, his brother-in- 
law. 

One cannot help mourning over the sad and humihating history of the 
great Lord Bacon, who was impeached by Parliament 1621, convicted of 
bribery, and fined s640,000. In 1622 James dissolved his 3rd Parliament, 
and committed some of what he called * the fiery and popular spirits' of 
both houses to prison. Members of Parliament seem to have received 
payment from their constituents in this reign. 

The King died in the 23rd year of his reign, March 27th, 1625, on 
which day he was succeeded by his son Charles 1st. He ascended the 
throne in times of the greatest difficulty, having to conduct a war with 
Spain, which was popular, and yet being refused supplies by Parliament 
for its conduct. He therefore adopted the Tudor method of raising money 
by force, without the consent of Parliament. These taxes were known 
under the names of Tonnage and Poundage, Ship-money and Loans. That 
this was an undue stretch of the prerogative, we may learn from the fact, 
that in Wolsey's time the Clergy in Convocation in 1525 " denied the 
right of a K. of England to exact money from the people without Parlia- 
ment." {Hallam, Const. Hist. I. 20.) Yet, as was said before, it was 
not so much an encroachment upon the part of Charles, as the maintain- 
ing the Tudor Prerogative. The ship-money was refused by Hampden, 
and his case was argued before the twelve judges, and decided against 
him, 1637. At this time the opposition of Scotland to the Church, which 
had been established among them by James 1st, broke out into a flame. 
Charles called his 4th Parliament, which met April 13th, 1640, and was 
dissolved in the following May : but in consequence of the Scotch again 
invading England, he was obhged to summon another Parhament, which 
met on Nov. 3rd, and is called the Long Parliament. It stripped the 
crown of many prerogatives, and formed an alliance with the Scotch in- 
surgents. Abp. Laud * was sent to the Tower, and after four years be- 
headed. Lord Strafi"ord also was executed, the king granting his assent, 
— a step which he bitterly deplored up to the last day of his life. After 
too many concessions, Charles at last resisted, and refused his assent to 
the Militia Bill in 1642, the object of which was to transfer all the military 
power to the Parliament. The first blood in the Civil War which followed 
was drawn at Edgehill, Warwickshire, where an indecisive battle was 
fought on Sunday, Oct. 23, 1642. However, on the second of July, 1644, 
the Royalists sustained a defeat at Marston Moor, Yorkshire, from the 
combined Scotch and Parhamentary forces. The battle of Naseby on June 



* There is in existence an aiitograpli letter of Sir Thomas Herbert's, who slept in Charles' bed- 
room the ni^ht before his execution, in which the latter expresses disapprobation of Abp. Laud's 
conduct. 

R 



122 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



14th, 1 645, may be said to have finished the war. On the 5th of May, 1 646, 
Charles delivered himself up to the Scotch army at Newark, who on 
30th of January, 1647, gave him up to the English Parliament. On the 3rd, 
of June, he was forcibly taken out of the hands of Parliament, and carried 
to the army, then lying at Triplow Heath, Cambridgeshire, and in open 
rebellion against their old Parliamentary masters. On the 19th of August, 
he was brought by the army to Hampton- Court, made his escape thence 
on the 1 1th of November, and took refuge in the I. of Wight, where he 
was detained a close prisoner in Carisbrook Castle, till Nov. 30th, 1648, 
when he was seized and carried to Hurst Castle in Hampshire. The Duke 
of Hamilton, leading an army in the King's interest from Scotland, was 
met at Langdale, near Preston, by Cromwell, August 1 7th, and defeated. 
On the 6th of December of that same year. Colonel Pride cleared the 
House of Commons by a detachment of soldiers. On Dec. 23rd, the King 
was brought to Windsor ; on Jan. 15th, 1649, to St. James'; on the 20th 
he was brought to Trial in Westminster Hall, but refused to plead, or ac- 
knowledge the Tribunal. On the 27th, sentence of death was pronounced, 
and he was executed at Whitehall, Jan. 30th, 1649.* 

Doubtless it was his attachment to and defence of the Church that in- 
furiated the Puritans of Cromwell's army, and brought him to the scaf- 
fold. It was not for his political offences, but for his Religious Principles, 
that he was persecuted to this extremity ; and therefore he is called * The 
Martyr.' Hallam says, that if the King would have given up Episcopacy, 
he might have saved his Life ; and thus he was a Martyr to his Religious 
Principles. He also considers it was the duty of even the Whigs to have 
joined the King's army, like Falkland. 

On his death, the Scotch proclaimed Charles II. their sovereign, on the 
condition of his signing their Covenant and Confession of Faith. Ire- 
land, loyal and devoted throughout to the unhappy Stuart, recognized him 
without any conditions. Cromwell marched into Scotland against the 
now Royalist Covenanters, and defeated them at Dunbar ; and then cut 
to pieces the English Royalists at Worcester, Sept. 3rd, 1651, whence 
Charles fled in disguise. The Commonwealth was doubtless a period of 
great prosperity and success in a worldly point of view. Witness the war 
with Holland, and his influence with France and Spain. This naturally 
leads to the remark, that, however external glory and prosperity may 
have been marks of God's favour in the Jewish Dispensation, it is by no 
means a similar test for Christian nations. Cromwell died in 1658, and 
Charles II. was proclaimed King, May 29th, 1660. This Restoration was 
accomplished without anything hke force, {Ecclesiasticus, X. 4.) No 
European state, even when at war with the Commonwealth, had chosen 
to bind itself up with the cause of the exiled Family ; and this apathy was 
of the greatest service to the Royal cause. Charles was not imposed on 
his country, (like the Bourbons on France, 1815,) but sought by them. 

In 1660 the whole nation was drunk with joy, and loyal excitement. 
So great was the reaction, that the people were ready to place all their 
rights at the mercy of the Sovereign. The Law passed in the Long Par- 
liament, to ensure the frequent meeting of the Great Council of the Na- 
tion, was abrogated. 



* Hume is wrong in saying that the King- slept at Whitehall, and was disturbed the whole night 
by the noise made m erecting the scaffold. Sir T. Herbert says that he slept that night at St. 
.Tames'. 



LECTURE XV. ENGLISH CONSTITUTION, & STUART DYNASTY. 123 

Unhappily, on this Royal Exile suffering had exhausted all its discipline 
in vain. The nation, in the course of 18 years more, found out that it 
had lavished all its loyalty on a mere libertine. One of the few acts of the 
reign, which at all tended to uphold England's position in the scale of 
Nations, was the Triple Alliance, concluded 1668, by the exertions of Sir 
W. Temple, between England, Holland, and Sweden, against France. 
{See Macaulay^s Essay on Sir W. Temple.^ It was not long however 
before the formation of the Ministry called the * Cabal,' (from the initials 
of the five men composing it, — Lord Clifford, Earl of Arlington, Duke of 
Buckingham, Lord Ashley, afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury, and Duke of 
iauderdale,) overturned this state of things. They are supposed to have 
been plotting an absolute monarchy. The most memorable affair of the 
following years was the announcement in 1678 of the Pretended Popish 
Plot. Men are generally agreed, that the greater part of Gates' story was 
a mere fabrication, [Blackstoiie, vol. IV. 439, {ed. Coleridge) hails the era 
of 1679 as the zenith of our constitutional excellence.] In 1683 many of 
the municipal corporations were forced to surrender their charters, which 
were restored to them with such modifications as placed their members of 
Parliament under the influence of the Crown. 

This stirred up the successors of Hampden, Pym, &c. and led to the 
Rye-house Plot, which was detected, and Lord Russel and Algernon 
Sydney were executed, being two of the most eminent concerned in it. 
Sydney, this much vaunted i)atriot, was in the pay of the French Kings. 
(See English Review, No. V. p. 9. note.) The king died a Romanist, Feb. 
9th, 1685, His brother James Ilnd came to the throne, A Parhament 
was returned, beyond all comparison the most obsequious that ever sat 
under a Prince of the Stuart line. The Earl of Argyle's Rebellion in 
Scotland, and Duke of Monmouth's, in England, were put down. The 
latter was defeated at Sedgemoor, near Bridgewater, and was beheaded 
on Tower Hill, July 15th, 1685. Jeffreys was sent upon his infamous 
circuit, and 800 persons were transported, 330 executed, on suspicion of 
being connected with the Rebellion. The King then commenced his cru- 
sade against the Church of England, for he was an avowed Papist. He 
began with establishing an ecclesiastical commission, made up of Lords Spi- 
ritual and Temporal, whose authority superseded the legitimate Church sys- 
tem of Convocation, just as is done at present. He then published a 
declaration, dispensing with the oaths of supremacy and all tests, on 
admission to office. God be praised ! the Church was not found wanting 
to her own principles at this crisis. It asserted and acted upon its inva- 
riable rule of submission to any punishment inflicted ; but at the same 
time passive resistance to the ordinances of man, when they oppose the 
ordinances of God, and his Church. The King sent his mandate April 1 1, 
1687, to Magdalene College, Oxford, to elect a Papist (Mr Farmer) presi- 
dent. They dared not sin against God, {^Acfs V. 29.) and chose Dr. 
Hough ; which election the Ecclesiastical Commission declared void, and 
the fellows were expelled for refusing to appoint another Popish nominee 
of the King's. 

Again, the Church quitted herself nobly and meekly, when the Abp. of 
Canterbury (Sancroft) and six Bishops remonstrated with the King, May 

R 2 



124 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY, 



18th, 1688, apon his ordering a declaration, favouring the Papists, to be 
read in all Chapels and Churches. On June 8th, they were summoned 
before the Council, and were committed to the Tower, whither they were 
carried by water, amidst the cheers of the people, who, soliciting their 
blessings, received them on their knees. On the 15th, the seven Bishops 
were brought by the Habeas Corpus Act to the King's Bench, and ad- 
mitted to bail. On the 29th, they were tried and found Not Guilty. On 
the 30th, a conspiracy was formed at the Earl of Shrewsbury's, to expel 
the Stuart Line, and invite WiDiam Prince of Orange to take possession 
of the Throne. He left Helvoetsluys on Oct. 1 9th, but was driven back ; 
— set sail again Nov. 1, and landed at Torbay on Nov. 5. The King de- 
termined to assemble his troops on Salisbury Plain, but they nearly all 
deserted him, and amongst them, that double traitor the Duke of Marl- 
borough. James' exclamation, when the Princess Anne deserted hinj, re- 
minds one strongly of K. Lear. On Dec. 10, he embarked for France, and 
threw the Great Seal into the Thames, that nothing might be done legally 
in his absence. He was driven back by contrary winds, was captured at 
Feversham, and returned to Whitehall ; but again embarked on the 23rd 
of Dec. and joined his wife and child at St. Germains. On the 28th of 
Jan. 1689, the House of Commons resolved, and on Feb. 2nd, the Lords 
agreed to the resolution, " That King James Ilnd had endeavoured to 
subvert the Constitution, by breaking the original contract between King 
and People, &c. &c. and having withdrawn himself out of the kingdom, 
hath abdicated the Government, and the Throne is thereby vacant." 

The Church imposes [in the person of the Abp. of Canterbury] certain 
oaths upon the monarch at the time of his coronation. If he violates 
those oaths, the Church may be held to stand in the place of the Prophets 
of old, and upon legal cmviction of his sin and impenitence depose the 
perjured monarch. 1 Sam. XV. and XVL 2 Kings IX. Jerem. I. Not 
that it is meant to claim for the English Church, Papal theories of «<wco?ic?«- 
tional despotism, such as was Louis XVIIth's despotism, and Bonaparte's 
coronation. In the case of the Revolution of 1688, the Church did not 
judge or decide the question, and therefore the Non-jurors were right in the 
line they adopted, the next heir to the throne should be made King. 

On Feb. 12, both Houses agreed that the Prince and Princess of Orange 
should be King and Queen of England, but the sole regal power should be in 
the Prince. Ireland, as before, stood firm to the Stuarts, and did not accept 
the House of Brunswick till after the battle of the Boyne, July 1, 1690. 

The Church, which had resisted James' invasion of the Truth, did not 
desert him in his adversity. Five of the seven Bishops who were com- 
mitted by him, aad many of the Inferior Clergy (hence called the non- 
jurors) were suspended, for refusing to transfer their allegiance to William. 

James the Ilnd's tomb is in the Church of St. Germains, at Paris : the 
inscription which K. George the IVth caused to be put upon the monu- 
ment he raised to his memory is striking : — 

*' Regio Cineri Pietas Regia. Ferale quisquis hoc monumentum aspi- 
cis, rerum humanarum vices meditare ! Magnus in prosperis, in adversis 
major, Jacobus II., Anglorum Rex, insignes serumnas, dolendaque nimium 
fata, pio placidoque obitu exsolvit in hac urbe, die XVI Septembris, 1701 ; 
et nobiliores qusedam corporis partes hie reconditse asservantur," 



LECTURE XVI. 



PARALLEL OF ENGLISH, FRENCH, 
AND RUSSIAN HISTORY. 



History exhibits numerous instances of Empires which have been sud- 
denly elevated to greatness by the genius or fortune of a single man ; but 
in all such cases the dominion has been as short-lived in its endurance, as 
it was rapid in its growth. The successive empires of Alexander, Genghis 
Khan, Tamerlane, Nadir Shah, Charlemagne, and Napoleon, attest this 
truth. But there is no example of a nation having risen to durable great- 
ness, or attained a lasting dominion over the bodies and minds of men, 
but by long previous efforts, and the struggles and suffering of many suc- 
cessive centuries. It would appear to be a general law of nature, alike in 
the material and the moral world, that nothing durable is erected but by 
slow degrees, and that hardship and suffering constitute the severe but 
necessary school of ultimate greatness ; and this is as true of individuals 
as nations.* In this point of view, there is a remarkable analogy between 
the history, from the earliest periods, of England, France, and Russia, — 
the three powers which stood forth so prominent in the great fight of the 
19th century. Their periods of greatness, of suffering, and of probation, 
from their infancy, have been the same ; and during the long training of 
a thousand years, each has at the same time, and in a similar manner, 
been undergoing the moral discipline requisite for ultimate greatness, 
and the effects of which now appear in the lasting impression they have 
made upon the world. 

The Russian Empire was founded by Rurik, a hero and a wise mon- 
arch, about the year 860 ; and ere long its forces were so powerful, that 
80,000 Russians attacked the Bosphorus, and threatened Constantinople 
in a more serious manner than it has since been, even by the victorious 
arms of Catherine or Nicholas. This first and great era in Russian story — 
this sudden burst into existence, was cotemporary with that of Alfred in 
England, who began to reign in 871 ; and not long after Charlemagne 
in France, who died at Aix-la-Chapelle, in 814, leaving an Empire co-ex- 
tensive with that which was exactly a thousand years afterwards lost by 
Napoleon. 

The two centuries and a half of weakness, civil dissension, and external 
decHne, which in Russia commenced with the system of dividing the Em- 



* St. Paul, 1 Cor. XIII. 3, lays down an eternal principle, that a great sacrifice, as it were, 
made by {.n unprepared and not previously disciplined heart, is but a splendid hypocrisy, or self- 
deception. 



126 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



pire into apanages * in 1C60, were contemporary with a similar period of 
distraction and debility, both to the English and French monarchies ; — 
to the former, by the Norman conquest, which took place in that very 
year, and was followed by continual oppression of the people, and domes- 
tic warfare among the barons, till they were repressed by the firm hand of 
Edward I., who first rallied the native English population to the support 
of the crown, and by his vigour and abilities overawed the Norman nobi- 
lity in the latter part of the 13th century ; — to the latter, by the miserable 
weakness which overtook the Empire of Charlemagne under the rule of 
his degenerate successor ; until at length its frontiers were contracted from 
the Elbe and the Pyrenees to the Aisne and the Loire, — till all the great 
feudatories in the monarchy had become independent princes, and the 
decrees of the king of France were not obeyed farther than twenty miles 
around Paris. 

The woeful period of Moscovite oppression, when ravaged by the suc- 
cessive armies of Genghis Khan, and Tamerlane, and when the people for 
two centuries drank the cup of humiliation from Tartar conquest, or pur- 
chased a precarious respite by the ignominy of Tartar tribute, was con- 
temporary with the disastrous English wars in France. The battle of 
Cressy was fought in 1314 ; that of Azincour in 1415 ; and it was not 
till 1448, that these hated invaders were at length finally expelled from the 
Galhc shores, by the effects of the heroism of the Maid of Orleans, and 
jealousies of the English nobility in the time of Henry VI. If these wars 
were disastrous to France, — if they induced the horrors of famine, pesti- 
lence, and Jacquerie, which ere long reduced its inhabitants a half, — not 
less ruinous were their consequences to England, exhausting, as they did, 
the strength of the monarchy in unprofitable foreign wars, and leaving 
the nation a prey, at their termination, to the furious civil contests of 
York and Lancaster, which for above twenty years drenched their fields 
with blood, almost destroyed the old nobility, and left the weak and dis- 
jointed people an easy prey to the tyrannic rule of Henry VIII., who put 
many thousands to death by the hand of the executioner in his single 
reign. It is hard to say whether Russia, when emerging from the severi- 
ties of Tartar bondage — or France, when freed from the scourge of En- 
glish invasions — or England, when decimated by the frightful carnage of 
York and Lancaster, were in the more deplorable condition. 

From this pitiable state of weakness and suffering all the three monar- 
chies were raised about the same period by three monarchs, who succeeded 
in each, partly by wisdom, partly by good fortune, partly by fraud, in 
re-constructing the disjointed members of the State, and giving to the 
central government the vigour and unity which had been lost amidst 
the distractions and sufferings of former times, but was essential to the 
tranquillity and well-being of society. John III., who achieved this great 
work in Russia, was the counterpart of Louis XL, who at the same time 



* This method of providing for the younger children of successive monarchs was commenced by 
the Grand Prince Dmitri, in 1054, and afforded too easy a means of providing for the succeeding 
generation of princes, to be readily abandoned. The effects of such a system may without diffi- 
culty be conceived. It reduced a solid compact monarchy at once to the distracted state of the 
Saxon Heptarchy, and soon introduced into its vitals those fierce internal wars, which exhaust the 
strength of a nation, without either augmenting its resources, or adding to its reputation. 



LECTURE XVI. — PARALLEL OF ENG. FR. AND RUS. HISTORY, 127 

accomplished it in France. John III. ascended the throne in 1462, and 
reigned till 1505 : Louis XI. in 1461, and reigned till 1483. Both were 
cautious in design, and persevering in execution : both were bold in coun- 
cil, rather than daring in the field : both prevailed in a barbarous age, 
rather by their superior cunning and dissimulation, than the wisdom or 
justice of their measures. Both had implicitly adopted the Machiavelian 
maxim, that the end will in all cases justify the means, and employed 
always fraud and perfidy, as well as wisdom and resolution, to accomplish 
their grand object — the restoration of the throne, and abasement of the 
great feudatories. Both were equally successful. The reunion of the 
apanages to the crown of the Russian Grand Prince, and the subjugation 
of the ancient Republic of Novogorod, were steps extremely analogous to 
the defeat of Charles the Bold, and the acquisition of Normandy and 
Aquitaine by Louis XL, and the happy marriage of Anne of Brittany to 
his royal successor. Nor was the coincidence of a similar monarch on 
the throne, and a similar- revolution in society in England at the same 
period, less remarkable. Henry VIL won the crown of England on the 
Field of Bosworth in 1483, and reigned till 1509. By uniting the rival 
pretensions of the Houses of York and Lancaster to the throne, through 
his marriage with the heiress of the former house, he re-constructed the 
English monarchy : his avarice left a vast treasure, which rendered the 
crown independent, to his vehement successor : his cautious policy broke 
down the little power which the fierce contests of former times had left to 
the Norman nobility. John ITL, Louis XL, and Henry VIL, were the 
real restorers of the monarchy in their respective kingdoms of Russia, 
France, and England ; and they were men of the same character, and 
flourished very nearly at the same time. 

The next epoch in the history of Russia was that of Peter the Great, 
whose genius overcame the obstacles consequent on the remoteness of its. 
situation, and opened to its people the career of European industry, arts, 
and arms. {Arrowsmithy Chap. XXVI. 32.) Russia had now gone 
through the ordeal of greatness and of suffering ; it had come powerful, 
energetic, and valiant, out of the school of suffering. But the remoteness 
of its situation, the want of water communication with its principal pro- 
vinces, the barbarous Turks, who held the key to its richest realms in the 
South, and the Frozen Ocean, which for half the year barricaded its har- 
bours in the North, had hitherto prevented the industry and civilization of 
its inhabitants from keeping pace with their martial prowess and great as- 
pirations. At this period Peter arose ; and uniting the wisdom of a phi- 
losopher to the genius of a lawgiver, and the zeal of an enthusiast to the 
ferocity of a despot, forcibly drove his subjects into the new career, and 
compelled them, in spite of themselves, to engage in the arts and labours 
of peace. Contemporary with this vast heave of the Moscovite empire, 
was a similar growth of the power and energy of France and England ; 
but the different characters of the Asiatic and European monarchy, and of 
the free community, were now conspicuous. The age of Peter the Great 
in Russia, was that of Louis XIV. in France ; of the Revolution of 1688, 
and of Marlborough in England. The same age saw the victories of Pul- 
towa and Blenheim ; the overthrow of Charles XII. and humbling of the 
Grand Monarque. 



128 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



The last great step in the history of Russia has been that of Alexander, — 
an era signalized beyond all others by the splendour and magnitude of 
military success. It witnessed the conquest of Finland and Georgia, of 
Walachia and Moldavia, the acquisition of Poland, and the extension of 
the Empire to the Araxes. Need we say with what events this period was 
contemporary in France and England ? — that the age which witnessed the 
burning of Moscow, saw also the taking of Paris, — that Pitt and Welling- 
ton were contemporary with Alexander and Barclay, — that but a year and 
a half had separated Leipsic and Waterloo ? Coming, as it did, at the 
close of this long period of parallel advance and similar vicissitudes, dur- 
ing a thousand years, there is something inexpressibly impressive in this 
contemporaneous rise of the three great Powers of Europe to the highest 
pinnacle of worldly grandeur — this simultaneous efflorescence of Empires, 
which during so long a period had advanced parallel, yet long unknown, 
to each other in the painful approach to worldly greatness. Nor let the 
intellectual pride of Western Europe despise the simple and comparatively 
untutored race, which has only within the last century and a half taken 
a prominent part in the affairs of Europe. The virtues, whether of na- 
tions or individuals, are not the least important, which are nursed in soli- 
tude ; the character not the least commanding, which, chastened by suf- 
fering, is based on a sense of religious duty. The nation is not to be de- 
spised which overthrew Napoleon ; the moral training not undeserving of 
consideration, which fired the torches of Moscow. European liberalism 
and infidelity will acquire a right to ridicule Moscovite ignorance and 
barbarity, when it has produced equal achievements ; — but not till then. 

All the recent events in history, as well as the tendency of opinion in 
all the enlightened men in all countries, who have been bred up under 
their influence, point to the conclusion, that there is an original and in- 
delible difference in the character of the different races of men, and that 
each will best find its highest point of social advancement by institutions 
which have grown out of its ruling dispositions. This is but an exem- 
plification of the profound observation long ago made by Montesquieu, 
that no nation ever rose to durable greatness but by institutions in har- 
mony with its spirit. Perhaps no national calamities have been so great, 
because none so lasting and irremediable, as those which have arisen 
from the attempt to transfer the institutions of our race and stage of po- 
litical advancement to another family of men, and another era of social 
progress.* 



* This Chapter is taken from the New Quarterly Review, 



LECTURE XVII. 

HISTORY OF FRANCE. 



Geography. 

Mount one of the most elevated peaks of the Vosges, or the Jura, and 
let us turn our backs upon the Alps. We may discern (supposing our 
vision to command an horizon of 300 leagues) an undulating line, reaching 
from the wooded hiUs of the Luxembourg and the Ardennes to the valleys 
of the Vosges, and from thence continued along the vine-slopes of Bur- 
gundy and the Volcanic masses of the Cevennes, till it joins the prodigious 
vt^all of the Pyrenees. This Une marks the separation of the waters. To 
the W. of it flow the Seine, the Loire, and the Garonne, towards the ocean: 
behind it, the Meuse and Moselle turn to the North, and the Saone and 
Rhone to the Mediterranean. In the far distance are discerned what 
seem two islands in this continent — Bretagne, rugged and low, simple 
quartz and granite, a sohd breakwater, placed at the corner of France to 
receive the shock of the Atlantic, and the currents of the Channel : in ano- 
ther direction rises the green Auvergne, the stiffened lava-bed of 40 ex- 
tinct volcanoes. 

The basins of the Rhone and Garonne, important as they are, are only 
secondary in this expanse of land. The life of this body is concentrated 
to the North. There the grand movements of the Nations have taken 
place. The stream of mankind poured itself that way from Germany in 
ancient times. So the great political struggle of Modern Europe is be- 
tween France and England. England presents to France her Teutonic 
face, and withdraws into the rear-guard her Celts of Wales, Scotland, and 
Ireland. France on the other hand, backed up by her German Provinces 
Lorraine and Alsace, opposes to England a Celtic front. 

In latitude the zones of France are easily marked by their products. In 
its Northern zone the rich and wide plains of Flanders, with their crops of 
flax and hops, and that bitter vine of the North. About Rheims com- 
mences the real vine, all froth and effervescent in Champagne, rich and 
warm, and Burgundy ; it becomes heavy and stupid in Languedoc ; and 
recovers its spirit in Bordeaux. At Montauban the mulberry and olive 
begin to show themselves. Thus France may be divided into three belts ; 
the first, vineyards — the second, maize, — and the third, olive. The North 
has no vineyards — the Central district has no maize— the South produces 
vines, maize, and olives, all three. 

Geology confirms these remarks of Michelet, {Hist, de France, II. 
165.) 

s 



130 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



Lyell {Geology, vol. IV.) tells us, that what is called the " basin of 
Paris" — a region of about 1 80 miles in length, and 90 in breadth — is a 
lacustrine formation ; that is, that a lake, or arm of the sea, once occupied 
the valley of the Seine, which has been filled up with alternating groups 
of marine and freshwater strata : and that in the two next valleys (of the 
Loire and the Allier) there are considerable tracts of similar formation, 
showing the existence at one period of several chains of lakes, all pointing 
like radii to the Central mass of the Auvergne mountains. What an exact 
counterpart is this to the picture drawn above. Michelefs Metaphory an 
ocean of land," is a geological fact! 

History. 

The German nation, reckoned at the Christian era among barbarians, 
and beyond the boundaries of the civilized world, had, soon after the end 
of the fourth century, achieved the conquest of the Roman empire. In 
moral energy the German race was so superior to the rest of mankind, 
and the Romanized nations were so prostrate before their arms, that the 
old stock of inhabitants might eventually have been exterminated from 
Europe, if German dynasties and German colonies, established in con- 
quered provinces, had not changed the condition and renewed the vigour 
of the subdued people, among whom the new race formed for some centu- 
ries a military and noble caste. Franks and Alemans, and Burgundians 
and Visigoths in Gaul ; Heruli, Goths, and Langobards in Italy ; Suevi, 
and Vandals, and Ostrogoths in Spain, were in too small a proportion in 
the mass of the people to impress their language eventually on the con- 
quered nations. In these countries the Latin idiom and the physical and 
moral characters of the old races have prevailed ; and the great body of 
the people may be considered as descended from them. It was chiefly in 
Britain and on the Upper Rhine and towards Switzerland that a German 
population, properly so considered, encroached far on the boundaries 
which had previously limited the extent of that race, and in these coun- 
tries Saxon and High German dialects became the vernacular, and even- 
tually the national speech. 

Of the Franks. 

All the countries on the Rhine, from the Alemannic or Suabian territory 
to the mouth of the river, were the regio^ of the Franks, a name more 
formidable to the Romans than even the preceding. The first Franks 
were the Sigambri, who, after their subjugation under Drusus, disappear 
for a time, but are mentioned by Ptolemy under their old name, and soon 
afterwards appear in alliance with the Chamavi, under the designation of 
Franks or *' Freemen," on the banks of the Lower Rhine, from the Lippe 
to the mouth of the river. It appears from Gregory of Tours, and other 
writers, that the name of Sigambri was not forgotten by the Merovingian 
Franks. 



LECTURE XVII. HISTORY OF FRANCE. 



131 



But there was another and distinct nation, who also took the name of 
Franks. In the reign of Aurelian, a people called Franks appeared in the 
neighbourhood of Mentz, and laid waste Gaul. Shortly before this period, 
the Chatti had invaded the empire in the same quarter, about the end of 
the second century, and these Eastern Franks are called for some time in- 
differently Franks and Chatti. They were separated from the Lower 
Franks by the intervening tribe of Bricteri, or Bructeri. (See Guizot, Es- 
sais sur V Histoire de la France, II. p. 41.) The name of Frank first 
appears in history in the reign of Gordian the 3rd, about 240, A. D. 

Of the Lower, or Salian Franks. 

The Franks of the Lower Rhine are called, by Sidonius, " Paludicolee 
Sicambri." From the river Sala, (the Issel?) it has been conjectured 
that they derived the celebrated name of Sahi, by which, as Ammianus 
says, it was in his time customary to distinguish them. In the time of 
Constantius they occupied Batavia : they were held in check by the Ro- 
mans till the age of Valentinian : the same people, still termed Sigambri, 
as well as Franci and Sahi, thenceforward made continual encroachments, 
and under Clovis founded the empire of the Merovingians. See above, 
Led. X. on the Merovingian and Carlo vingian Dynasties. 

The name of Charlemagne has come down to us as one of the greatest 
in histoiT. Though not the founder of his dynasty, he has given his name 
both to his race and to his age. 

The great feature of his reign was the different character of his wai's 
from those of the previous dynasty. They were not dissensions between 
tribe and tribe, or expeditions for plunder, but systematic invasions, with 
the view of putting an end to the barbarian incursions. What Clovis be- 
gan, Charlemagne accomplished. Up to his time the frontiers of Germany, 
Spain, and Italy, were in continual fluctuation : after him the scene is 
changed, and though his empire was dismembered, the effects of his con- 
quests remained. Real pohtical barriers arose : the kingdoms of Lorraine, 
of Germany, Italy, the two Burgundies, and Navarre, date from that time. 

Although therefore his vast dominion perished with him, his wars at- 
tained their end. Order and stability succeeded to confusion and change. 
Nothing certainly less resembles feudalism than the unity which Charle- 
magne aspired to establish : yet he is the true founder of feudal society. 
It was he, who, by arresting the external invasions, and repressing to a 
certain extent the intestine disorders, gave sufficient time for local influ- 
ences and fortunes to take possession of the country. 

• We have designated two long periods of the history of the French by 
the names of the two races of kings, the Merovingians and the Carlo vin- 
gians, who first held the government of France. A third period begins 
with the consecration of Hugues Capet at Reims, the 3rd July, 987; a 
period which cannot, without impropriety, take its name from the new 
race of the Capetians : it is a period in which royalty was, as it were, an- 
nihilated in France, in which the bond of society was broken, and the 
country which extends from the Rhine to the Pyrenees, and from the 

s 2 



132 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



channel of the Manche (the English channel,) to the Gulf of Lyons, was 
governed by a confederation of princes rarely under the direction of one 
common will, and only kept together by the feudal system. 

'While France was confederated under the feudal regime, the legislative 
power was suspended in it. Hugues Capet and his successors, to the ac- 
cession of St. Louis, had not the right of making laws ; the nation had 
no diet, no regularly constituted assemblies, the authority of which was 
recognised by it. The feudal system, silently adopted, and obtaining con- 
sistency and extension by custom, was the only system recognized by the 
numerous potentates who divided the provinces among themselves. It 
held with them the place of the social bond of the monarchical and legis- 
lative power.' 

The accession of Hugues however increased the power and domain of 
the crown, by the addition of that domain which he had possessed while 
yet a subject. He was duke of France, count of Paris and Orleans, and 
abbot of several rich monasteries : a number of lords held their possessions 
under him by the feudal tenure ; and he had the support of the duke of 
Bourgogne, his brother, and of the duke of Norman die, his brother-in-law. 
Yet he was not acknowledged as king in Guienne till A. D. 990 ; and 
Limousin did not acknowledge his right till the reign of his successor. 

These two nobles, the dukes of Bourgogne and Norman die, the latter 
especially, were among the most powerful of the French lords ; and of the 
rest the principal were, the count of Champagne, the count of Vermandois 
(part of whose inheritance passed to the counts of Blois, and elevated 
them to a degree of consideration which they had not previously pos- 
sessed,) the count of Flanders, the count of Anjou, the count of Poitou, 
and the duke of Aquitaine, the count of Toulouse, and, though at a some- 
what later period, the duke of Bretagne. The six paramount feudatories, 
who afterwards became exclusively peers of France, were, the dukes of 
Bourgogne, Norman die, and Aquitaine, the counts of Flanders, Champagne, 
and Toulouse. The vassals of Hugues, as count of Paris and Orleans, 
made such approaches to independence, that, at his death, the authority 
of his successor extended little beyond the walls of Paris and Orleans. 

(996.)* Robert, son of Hugues Capet, born A. D. 970. 

(1031.) Henri L, son of Robert, born A.D. 1005. 

(1060.) Philippe L, son of Henri L, born A. D. 1053. 

The power of the first four Capetian kings was very small, and the king- 
dom over which their nominal sovereignty extended was not co- extensive 
with modern France ; Lorraine, Transjurane, Bourgogne, and Provence 
were subject to the imperial crown. Their reigns constitute the sera of the 
rise of chivalry. The reign of Philippe L was marked by the conquest of 
England by William of Normandie. The communes or municipalities of 
France originated in leagues of the inhabitants of towns for defence 
against baronial oppression, formed in the reign of Philippe, though com- 
monly ascribed to the reign of his successor. Philippe was engaged re- 
peatedly in hostilities with the Anglo-Norman kings, William 1. and Wil- 
liam IL The fii'st crusade took place in Philippe's reign, and, by ex- 



* N. B. Only some of the Kings of France are mentioned here. 



LECTURE XVII. HISTORY OF FRANCE. 133 

hausting the power of the nobles, prepared for the emerging of the regal 
authority from its depressed condition. 

(1108.) Louis VI. Le Gros, son of Phihppe I., born A. D. 1078. 

This reign comprehends an important period in the history of the French, 
whether by the progress of the people in the commu7ies, the rights of which 
had scarcely received at this epoch their first legal sanction ; or by the 
progress, not less marked, of the central authority in the power of the 
crown, which, uistead of remaining unnoticed, as under Philippe I., be- 
tween the Seine and the Oise, began really to make itself felt from the 
Meuse to the Pyrenees ; or, lastly, by the developement in the same inter- 
val of the feudal system. This system, profiting by the progress of intel- 
Hgence, and the study of other systems of legislation, acquired a regu- 
larity and authority, which no one dared any longer to dispute with it. 
The actinty of Louis vindicated the authority in his own domains, which 
had by this time been considerably extended, and enabled him to struggle 
with the Anglo-Norman and other great princes of his kingdom, and to 
extend the jurisdiction of the crown. 

(1137.) Louis VIL, Le Jeune, son of Louis, Le Gros, born A. D. 1120. 

The king carried on the pohcy of his father, of establishing his au- 
thority in his own domains. He married El^onore of Guienne, from 
whom he was afterwards divorced. She subsequently married Henry 
Plantagenet, afterwards Henry IL of England : this marriage made the 
power of Henry superior to that of Louis : he had Normandie, Anjou, 
Maine, Touraine, Poitou, Limousin, Angoumois, Saintonge, Berri, Mar- 
che, part of Auvergne, Guienne, and Gascogne ; but his quarrels with 
Becket and with his sons prevented his availing himself of his superiority. 
Louis Le Jeune was personally engaged in the second Crusade, but he 
met with no success. 

ni80.) Philippe IL Augiiste, son of Louis VII., Le Jeune : born 
A.b. 1165. 

The predominance of the Anglo-Norman power united the other great 
vassals of Philippe more closely in alliance with the crown ; and the ex- 
haustion of the Anglo-Normans from their civil dissensions, from the Cru- 
sades, the heavy ransom of Richard I., Coeur de Lion, and the weakness of 
John, enabled Philippe to raise the power of the crown above that of his 
puissant vassals. Philippe displayed considerable warlike activity : he was 
engaged in the third Crusade, 1189 — 91, in conjunction with Richard 
Coeur de Lion, and in hostilities with Richard and John, and with the Em- 
peror Otho, whom he defeated at Bouvinea, near Lille, A.D. 1214. He 
united Normandie, Maine, Anjou, Touraine, and Berri, to the domain of 
the crown ; increased the previously small domain of the crown in Au- 
vergne, and other parts of the south of France ; and consoUdated the re- 
gal power by substituting constitutional forms for individual caprice. 
This reign was marked by the blood-stained Crusades against the Albi- 
g<^ois [Albigenses] in the south of France, which weakened the power 
of the count of Toulouse, who protected the Albigeois. France, in its 
present extent, was at this time divided between four sovereign princes — 
the King of France ; the Emperor, who held the provinces of the east and 
south-east ; the king of England ; and the king of Arragon, who had con- 
siderable territories near the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean. 



134 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



(1226.) Louis IX., {St. Louis,) son of Louis VlIL,born 1215. (See 
Guizoty p. 307, on his impartial judgment at Amiens respecting the Provi- 
sions of Oxford, and p. 292, on his theory of resistance.) 

The reign of St. Louis, one of the most equitable and virtuous of 
princes, and the reigns of his successors, some of them as remarkable for 
the opposite qualities, are marked by the consohdation of the power of the 
law, as distinguished from that of arms. This beneficial change was how- 
ever accompanied, under the successors of Louis, with the most revolting 
acts of injustice under the forms of law. Many of the nobles were de- 
spoiled of their fiefs ; the order of the Templars was extinguished in the 
blood of its members, in the reign of Philippe le Bel ; the Jews and Lom- 
bards grievously oppressed ; and trade ruined by the abasing of the coin- 
age. Persecution assumed a more systematic form by the establishment 
of the inquisition at Toulouse. In this period the greater part of Langue- 
doc was added to the domains of the crown, which were considerably aug- 
mented in other places. 

(1316.) Philippe V., Le Long, second son of Philippe Le Bel^ born 
A.D. 1294. 

The accession of Philippe established the Salic law : he was preferred 
to the daughter and heiress of his elder brother, Louis Le Hutin. 

(1322.) Charles IV., Le Bel, third son of Philippe Le Bel, born 
A.D. 1295. 

[The direct line of the Capetian kings ended with Charles IV.] 

Collateral Branch of Valois.* 

(1328.) Philippe VI., de Valois, born A. D. 1293, grandson of Phi- 
lippe Le Hardi, by his third son Charles of Valois. It was in this reign 
that the last Prince of Dauphin^ left his kingdom to the K. of France, on 
condition that the eldest son was called Dauphin. 

(1350.) Jea-N II., Le Bon, son of Philippe de Valois, born A. D. 13 19. 

(1364.) Charles V., Le Sage, son of Jean II., Le Bon, born A. D. 
1337. 

The reigns of these three kings are marked by the wars of the English 
in France, under Edward III., who claimed the throne of France in the 
right of his mother, [Isabella Valois, sister of Louis X. Philip V. and 
Charles IV.] and his son the Black Prince. The French were defeated in 
the great battles of Sluys (naval) A.D. 1340, Cr%, A.D. 1346, and 
Poictiers, 1356. But the premature infirmity of Edward III. and the death 
of his son, who had at one time received the cession of a large territory 
in the south-west of France, under the title of the principality of Aqui- 
taine, caused the downfall of the English power, and tended ultimately to 
the extension of the domains of the French crown. 

(1380.) Charles VI., Le Bien AimS, son of Charles Le Sage, horn 
A.D. 1368. [N.B. Agincourt, 1415.] 



* The Houses of Valois and Bourbon were from younger sons of St. Louis. Philippe le Hardi was 
his third son. 



LECTURE XVII. HISTORY OF FRANCE. 



135 



(1422.) Charles VII., Le VictorieuXy son of Charles VI., born A. D. 
1403. 

The reigns of these two kings were marked by another desperate strug- 
gle with the English under Henry V. and his successor Henry VI. At one 
time the success of the English was so decided, that Henry V. was recog- 
nized as heir to the throne of France, to succeed on the death of Charles 
VI.: but the perseverance and spirit of the French ultimately triumphed, 
and of all their splendid domains in France, the English monarchs retained 
only Calais. This was a period not only of foreign invasion, but of civil dis- 
sensions, and of the most frightful massacres and assassinations. The 
dukes of Bourgogne, who descended from a younger son of Jean II., 
were acquiring a vast territory and great power. 

Charles VII. was the first to substitute a standing army for the military 
service of the feudal vassals. 

(1461.) Louis XL, the first entitled Le Roi tres Chretien, son of 
Charles VII., born A. D. 1423. 

Louis, a crafty and intriguing prince, did for France what Henry VII. 
did for England, in breaking down the feudal system. Upon the death of 
Charles Le Temeraire, duke of Bourgogne, he seized a portion of his in- 
heritance. The domain of the crown was now become very extensive, 
though parts of Picardie in the north, Bretagne in the west, several parts 
of Gascogne in the south, Limousin, Perigord, Auvergne, Bourbonnois, 
Orl^anois, and several districts of the centre, were not included. 

(1483.) Charles VIII., son of Louis XL, bom A. D. 1476. His in- 
vasion of Naples, at the instigation of Sporza Duke of Milan, 1495, is a 
great crisis in the History of Europe, as being the first event that engaged 
the principal states of Europe in relations of alliance or hostility, which 
may be deduced to the present day. {See Hallam, Chap. 1. and Arnold's 
Mod. Hist. Lecturesy No. 2. p. 149.) 

In him ended the direct succession of the house of Valois. 



Branch of Valois Orleans. 

(1498.) Louis XII., Le Pere du Peuple, born 1462, descended from a 
younger son of Charles V., Le Sage. 

Branch of Valois Angouleme. 

(1515.) Francois I., Le Pere des Lettres, descended from the same 
stock, born 1494. 

In the reign of this prince, the arts, commerce, and literature began to 
revive. The domains of the crown were augmented by several additions, 
as of Auvergne and Bourbonnois in the centre parts of Picardie in the 
north, and parts of Gascogne in the south, and virtually of Bretagne in the 
west ; if indeed we may not ascribe this last acquisition to the reign of 
Louis XII. 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



(15470 Henri II., son of Francois I., born A. D. 1519. 

In this reign the French reconquered Calais and its territory, the last 
relic of the English possessions in France. 

(1559.) Francois II., eldest son of Henri II., born A.D. 1544, hus- 
band of Mary Queen of Scots. 

(1560.) Charles IX., second son of Henri 11. , born A. D. 1550. 

(1574.) Henri III., third son of Henri II., born A. D. 1551. 

The reigns of the last two princes were distinguished by the religious 
wars of the Catholics, at the head of whom were the dukes of Guise of 
the family of Lorraine, and the Huguenots, under the Prince of Conde, 
and Admiral Coligny, afterwards under Henri of Navarre. 

The dreadful massacre of St. Earth^lemi, 1572, in the reign of Charles 
IX. was perpetrated by the Catholics, who formed the celebrated Confede- 
ration of the League, at the head of which were the Guises. The court, 
which had previously supported the Catholics, was driven by the fear of 
this powerful and ambitious family to an alliance with the Protestants, and 
Henri III. perished by the hands of a Catholic assassin, A. D. 1589. In 
him ended the direct succession of the branch of Valois Angoulfime. 

Branch of Bourbon. 

(1589.) Henri IV., Le Grand, born A. D. 1553, descended from Ro- 
bert, count of Clermont, younger son of St. Louis, and brother of Philippe 
III., Le Hardi. 

In the reign of Henri IV. the resources of France were so far developed, 
that the country began to assume that station in European politics to 
which its territorial extent, population, and social improvement entitled it. 
A fairer prospect seemed to be opening to the rulers of that country. The 
earlier kings had to struggle with the spirit and the institutions of feuda- 
lism ; and when, at the close of the direct line of the Capetians, the pre- 
dominance of the law over the armed violence of feudalism seemed to be 
gaining consistency and strength, the accession of the house of Valois 
brought on the struggle between the kings of France and England, for the 
right and possession of the crown. The excesses of the disbanded soldiery, 
theMruggles of the contending factions (the Bourguignons and the Armag- 
nacs,) and the rising of the commons of Paris and of the peasantry, or 
jacquerie, as they were termed, were added to the ravages of the enemy ; 
and when, after more than a century, the contest terminated in the almost 
entire expulsion of the English, the kings of France had to watch or strug- 
gle with rivals of almost equal strength in the dukes of Bourgogne, and 
the other nobles, whose power, the result of the feudal system, still sur- 
vived, when the spirit of the system was gone. The reviving strength of 
the crown and kingdom under Charles VIII., Louis XII., and Francis I., 
was repressed by the rising power of Spain, and the ascendancy of the 
imperial house of Austria, and exhausted by the unsuccessful attempts 
made to gain possession of Italy. Then came the ascendancy of the house 
of Lorraine, and the wars of religion, which desolated France for thirty 
years. At length however the exhaustion of the Lorraine party, or ' The 



LECTURE XVII. HISTORY OF FRANCE. 



139 



League,' aud the opportune conversion of Henri IV. to the Catholic faith, 
restored peace. The French frontier was now advanced to the Pyrenees, 
except on the side of Roussillon, which alone remained to the Spaniards of 
their possessions in Languedoc ; and the districts, such as the Nivernois 
and Auvergne, over which any of the nobility retained territorial sover- 
eignty, were of httle importance, when compared with the royal domain, 
now augmented by Beam, and the other portions of Henri's patrimony. 
The generous disposition and popular manners of Henri acquired for him 
the love of his people ; though he was a greats rather than a good man : 
and the wisdom of Sully, his chief minister, promoted the prosperity and 
husbanded the resources of the country. Henri granted to the Protestants 
the enjoyment of many important rights and privileges by the edict of 
Nantes, A. D. 1598, and was more desirous of improving the condition of 
his people, than of extending his frontier by foreign conquest. He was 
assassinated by Ravaillac. 

(1610.) Louis XIIL, Le Juste, son of Henri IV., Le Grand, born A. D. 
1601. 

Cardinal Richelieu, the minister of this prince, had in view to crush the 
nobility, to humble the Protestants, and to set bounds to the power of the 
house of Austria. His attempts to humble the Protestants led to a re- 
newal of the religious wars : the duke of Rohan and his brother, the 
prince of Soabise, were at the head of the Protestant party ; but their 
talents were exerted without success : the court triumphed, and the Pro- 
testants lost the towns which they held as securities : the edict of Nantes 
was not however revoked. To abase the house of Austria, Richelieu sup- 
ported the Protestants of Germany in the * Thirty Years War ;' but, how- 
ever his talents may have animated and directed the allies, the French 
armies obtained little distinction, until the next reign. The Protestants 
were under Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. The Catholics under Wallan- 
stein, who was assassinated. In the famous battle of Liitzen, Gustavus fell, 
1632 A. D. like Epaminondas, though his forces were victorious. The 
treaty of Westphalia concluded this Thirty Years War, from 1618 to 1648 
A. D. 

(1643.) Louis XIV., Le Grand, son of Louis XIIL, Le Juste, born 
A. D. 1638. 

The minority of this prince was marked by the dissensions and hosti- 
lities of the courtiers and powerful nobles, and by the splendid success of 
the French armies under the prince of Conde and the Marshal Turenne. 
The dissensions of the nobles so weakened their power, that the king was 
enabled to assume and exercise a more despotic power than any of his 
predecessors had possessed. The nobility were reduced to be the mere 
dependents on the court ; their titles descended to all their childi-en ; and 
a noble held the pursuit of commerce, and even of the liberal professions, 
to be a degradation : the country was burdened by the expenses of a 
court, which had such a body of retainers ; and the privileges and ex- 
emptions from taxation, which the nobility possessed, and other reUcs of 
the feudal system, were among the principal causes of the French Revo- 
lution. The despotism of Louis XIV. then, however splendid in appear- 
ance, prepared the way for the overthrow of the crown in the person of 
his descendant, next but one to himself in the possession of the throne. 

T 



140 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



It was in 1701 the Grand Alliance was made between the Emperor, the 
States-General, and England, against the Bourbon succession to Spain in 
the person of Philip V., second son of the Dauphin. The Bourbons were 
the most direct heirs, but had renounced it. The war is called the * War of 
the Spanish Succession.' 

The mihtary successfes of the French in this reign were splendid, except 
near the close, when the arms of the coahtion against France, under the 
guidance of Marlborough and Eugene, gained the ascendant. The boun- 
daries of France were however considerably enlarged in this and the pre- 
ceding reigns, by the addition of Rousillon, Artois, part of Flanders, 
Franche Comt^, and Alsace : the boundaries of France thus became nearly 
what they are at present. The manufactures and trade of France made 
considerable progress in this reign , under the able management of Colbert. 

(1715.) Louis XV., Le Bien ^m<^, great-grandson of Louis XIV., 
Grand, born A. D. 1 7 1 0. 

The long reign of Louis XV. presents little worthy of notice, except the 
changes in the public mind, which were preparing the overthrow of all the 
ancient institutions of the kingdom, and the increasing dilapidation of 
the finances. These circumstances, with the gross sensuality of the king, 
and the disputes of the Jesuits with the Jansenists, and of the clergy and 
the crown with the parliaments or courts of justice, all tended more or 
less to prepare the way for great changes. 

In this reign Corsica was added to France ; the last relics of the feudal 
sovereignties, the Duchies of Lorraine and Bar, and the principality of 
Dombes, were added to the domain of the crown. Le Comtat d' Avignon 
and le Comtat Venaissin remained in the hands of the pope. 

(^1774.) Louis XVI., grandson of Louis XV., Le Bien Aim6, born A.D. 
1754. 

In this reign the catastrophe, which had been long preparing, took 
place. The French Revolution is an event too complicated for us to trace 
its history : all we can do is, to mark some of the chief organic changes, 
and the principal accessions to or diminutions of the territory of France. 
[N. B. Burke's Predictions of each successive step — Scott's Napoleon, vol. 
I. ch. 7.] Among the more immediate causes of the Revolution were the 
financial embarrassments of the government, and the enthusiasm for 
liberty, inspired by the alliance of France with the United States, in the 
struggle of the latter for independence, against the power of Great Bri- 
tain. 

1787. The Meeting of the Notables, a number of persons from different 
parts of the kingdom, chiefly selected by the king. The Notables were 
dissolved the same year. 

1789. The States General, the ancient assembly of the kingdom, con- 
sisting of the deputies of the nobles, clergy, and of the Tiers Etat, (third 
estate, ) or commons, assembled. 

The deputies of the Tiers Etat, with such deputies of the clergy as 
chose to join them, (none of those of the nobility accepted the invitation) 
voted themselves the supreme legislative body, under the title of the Na- 
tional Assembly. 

In this year the division of the kingdom into departments was intro- 
duced. 



LECTURE XVII. HISTORY OF FRANCE. 



141 



1790. Hereditary nobility and titles of nobility were abolished. 

1791. Anew constitution was promulgated by the Assembly: — France 
was declared a limited monarchy. 

1 791. The Legislative or National Assembly assembled, according to the 
new constitution. 

1792. The royal authority was suspended by the National Assembly : 
the nation was invited to elect a national convention, and determine on the 
form of the government. The Convention assembled, and proclaimed a 
republic. 

1793. Louis XVI. was executed: the nominal reign of his son Louis 
XVII. (born 1785) commenced. 

1793. The constitution of the republic was completed; but it was de- 
termined that the Convention should continue in power till the end of the 
war. 

1794. Danton and Robespierre guillotined. Murat assassinated by 
Charlotte Cord^. 

1795. A new constitution was substituted for that of 1793, which was 
found to be impracticable. The executive power was confided to a body 
of five, called the Directory. Two legislative bodies, the Council of 
Ancients, and Council of Five Hundred, were constituted. The nominal 
king, Louis XVII., died. 

1799. The Constitution was remodelled : the Directory was overthrown : 
consuls for a term of years were appointed ; Bonaparte, Sifeyes, and Ducos, 
provisionally : then Bonaparte, Cambacferes, and Le Brun. 

1802. Consuls for life were appointed — Bonaparte, Cambacferes, and Le 
Brun. 

1804. Napoleon assumed the sovereign power, as Emperor. 

During these changes the boundaries of France were continually extend- 
ing. But these acquisitions were lost upon the overthrow of Napoleon, 
with the few exceptions which we have marked in the course of our enu- 
meration. 

(1814.) Louis XVIII., brother of Louis XVL, born A. D. 1755. 
The Charter was granted in 1814, by this king. 
(1824.) Charles X., brother of Louis XVIII., born A.D. 1757.* 
The second Revolution broke out A. D. 1830. 

(1830.) Louis Philippe, previously duke of Orleans, descended from 
a younger brother of Louis XIV., born A. D. 1773. 



The 'parallelism of the English and French Revolutions is very obsei'vable : — 

England. France. 
King Charles I. Louis XVI. 

Unpopularity of the Queen. 
Long' Parliament. National Assembly. 

Flig-ht to I. of Wight. Flight to Varennes. 



* N.B. The fraternal Triplicities of the French Monarchy :— 

Carlovingian—hovis III.— Carloman— Charles the Simple. 
Capetians— Louis X.— Philippe V.— Charles IV. Francis II.— Charles IX.— 
Henri III. Louis XVI,— Louis XVIII.— Charles X. 

T 2 



142 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



Cromwell. 

He expels Parliament, 

Richard Cromwell. 
Charles II. 
Duke of York. 

James II. 

Royal Declarations, 



Trial and Execution. 



Military Despotism, 
set aside 
restored 
unpopular 

Fear of Jesuits. 



Napoleon. 

Expels Convention. 

Napoleon II. 
Louis XVIII. 
Comte d' Artois. 

Charles X. 

Royal Ordonnances. 



James flies to France 



Flig^ht and Abdication of both King^s. 
New Dynasty of the late King's Coush 



Charles to England. 



The early history of Christianity in Gaul is involved in great uncertainty. 
According to some authorities, it was first preached by St. Paul, while 
others gave the honour to Crescens, one of his disciples, or to St. Luke. 
Pothinus, the first bishop of Lyons, is supposed to have been a scholar of 
St. Polycarp, as St. Irenseus, his successor in the see, certainly was. Po- 
thinus, with a noble company of Christians in Lyons and Vienne, was 
crowned with martyrdom in the year 177- Hence, Gaul offered her first- 
fruits to Christ, before either Africa or Spain. 

After the passion of the holy Irenseus in 202, the Churches of Gaul 
seem to have sufiered much in the persecutions of Severus and his suc- 
cessors ; so that even in the southern provinces, the light of faith was 
nearly extinguished. About the year 245, Fabian, Bishop of Rome, taking 
pity on their forlorn condition, sent seven missionary bishops into Gaul, 
with a number of inferior clergy. They were not at first appointed to 
any particular sees, but received a commission to preach throughout the 
country. They afterwards founded the sees of Tours, Aries, Narbonne, 
Toulouse, Paris, Clermont, and Limoges. Among them was St. Denys, or 
Dionysius, the future bishop of Paris. They arrived probably together, 
or within a short time of each other. 

When St. Denys landed at Aries, he found a few Christians there, 
among whom he stayed for a little time, to encourage them, and, as some 
say, to consecrate a Church. He then proceeded towards the northern 
provinces, attended by Lucian of Beauvais, St. Quintin of Amiens, Crispin 
of Soissons, and other confessors. He fixed his episcopal seat at Paris, 
while they carried the Gospel into still more distant parts. He converted 
many by his discourses. In the course of time a Church was consecrated, 
and a body of clergy was ordained to its service. Bishops were sent to 
Chartres, Senlis, Meaux, and other places. At length the storm of per- 
secution fell upon the infant Church, and St. Denys was enrolled among 
its early Martyrs ; Rusticus and Eleutherius, his priest and archdeacon , 
safFered along with him. The bodies of the martyrs were ordered to 
be thrown into the Seine, lest the Christians should bury them with 
honour. But they were rescued from the hands of the soldiers by a 
woman, and were deposited in a secret place about six miles from Paris. 

When peace was restored to the Church, the same devoted woman built 
a tomb over their remains. At the earnest request of St. GeneviJive, in 
the fifth age, a stately Church was erected on the place. 

St. Denys has ever been considered as the patron of the kings of France. 
On the eve of all their expeditions, they went in state to the abbey which 



LECTURE XVII. — HISTORY OF FRANCE. 



143 



bears his name, to implore his assistance ; and on their prosperous re- 
turn, their first act was to give thanks in the same manner. The standard 
of St. Denys, commonly called the Oriflamme, or Auriflamme, is cele- 
brated in mediaeval history. 

In the middle of the thirteenth century, the remains of the kings and 
queens of France were gathered from all the places of their interment 
throughout the kingdom, and were carried to the abbey of St. Denys. 
Those who were descended from Charlemagne were laid on one side of the 
cemetery, those of the hne of Hugh Capet, on the other ; but the place 
was shamefully desecrated during the Revolution. 

St. Denys, bishop of Paris, ought not to be confounded with the Areo- 
pagite of the same name. In many copies of the EngHsh Calendar, we 
find the latter saint commemorated on this day. When St. Paul visited 
Athens, he was a member of the court of Areopagus, the supreme tri- 
bunal of justice in that city. The sermon of the Apostle was the means 
of converting him to God. Damaris, whose name is also mentioned in the 
sacred history, is thought by some to have been his wife. He became the 
first bishop of Athens, and received the palm of martyrdom in the reign 
of Domitian. He is honoured on the third of October in the East and 
West. The writings which are usually ascribed to him are not of earlier 
date than the sixth century. 



LECTURE XVIII. 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND FROM THE 
NORMAN CONQUEST. 



The History of England, contrasted with that of France, presents to the 
mind a picture somewhat similar to that of Modern Europe compared with 
the Ancient World. The whole History of England since the Saxon Con- 
quest (and more especially since the Norman) is characterised by the com- 
plication and multiplicity of the agencies at work in its political life. Con- 
sider then the civilization of the ancient world, and you will find a remark- 
able unity and simplicity in all the forms of society. Oriental, Greek, or 
Roman. Some one idea pervaded the social framework. In Egypt, for 
instance, the theocratic principle ; in Greece, either a military or a demo- 
cratic principle predominated. Occasionally perhaps we catch glimpses of 
struggles between conflicting principles, but they were always promptly 
terminated, and the victorious party drove into exile the defeated. Now, 
this remarkable simplicity of most of the ancient civilizations had (liferent 
results in different places. In Greece it produced a most rapid develope- 
ment, — never did any people unfold itself into full maturity in so short a 
time. And her decline was almost as rapid as her elevation. But else- 
where, as in Egypt and India, the unity of the dominant principle produ- 
ced monotony, —society fell into a stationary condition. 

Contrast this with Modern Europe. Her civilization is more or less diversi- 
fied and confused, all principles of social organization co-existing, — spirit- 
ual, and temporal authority, theocratic, monarchic, aristocratic, democra- 
tic elements, — every variety mixed and crowded together, in perpetual con- 
flict, yet never extinguishing one another. Thence has arisen the slow and 
gradual growth of the great European Empires. But though this has been the 
case in some degree with France, yet, as contrasted with England, there has 
been much more simphcity and unity of social principle in the former 
than in the latter. Compare the middle age of France with England, i. e. 
the 11th, 1 2th, and 13th centuries. In France you find, at that epoch, 
feudality nearly absolute, the crown and democratic principles almost 
null. In England the feudal aristocracy no doubt predominates, but the 
crown and democracy are not without strength and importance. 

The reason of this was, that the Feudal Polity in England was, from the 
first, a less barbarous thing than in other countries. English Feudalism 
knew nothing of the isolation and independence of the feudatory in his 
fief, described so graphically by Guizot respecting France. English His- 
tory is made up of the acts of the barons, not of this or that baron ; 
and the cause of this is to be found in the Conquest. The Normans did 
not, hke the Goths and Franks, overrun an unresisting population, but they 
encamped like a garrison in the midst of them, and their final success was 
the result of Union, and the result of this Union was a continued conflict 
with a powerful Crown. 



LECTURE XVIII. ENGLAND FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 145 



William the Conqueror. 

From A. D. 1066, to A. D. 1087. Born at Falaise. Buried at Caen. 
Reigned 21 years. 



In choosing Harold as their king, and overlooking the rightful claims 
of Edgar Atheling, the Enghsh nobles had broken that rule of hereditary- 
succession, for the arbitrary violation of which no personal qualities in the 
sovereign can make up. When Harold, therefore, was slain, they had no 
great principle of loyalty to bind them together ; and though an attempt 
was made to proclaim Edgar, it was then too late to rally men round that 
sacredness of ancient right, which had been so blindly set aside. This 
may greatly account for the fact that one victory gave William possession of 
the English crown, though he did not reduce the whole kingdom to his power 
for 4 years. It should also be said, that he was naturally much favoured 
by all the Norman Churchmen, who had been brought over by Edward the 
Confessor ; and the more so, inasmuch as his enterprise had been (as men 
then imagined) authorized and hallowed by the Pope. On his approach to 
London, he was met by many nobles, including Edgar himself, and Sti- 
gand. Archbishop of Canterbury, who at once tendered their submission, 
and he was soon solemnly crowned at Westminster. 

It seems to have been William's purpose at first to govern the nation, 
which he had conquered, with strict justice. The Enghsh, however, soon 
found that all real power was in the hands of Normans ; and as they were 
unable to brook the insults and oppression with which they were contin- 
ually galled, the history of William's reign is chiefly a record of repeated 
revolts, which he punished with the most unrelenting cruelty, laying 
waste on one occasion the entire country for a distance of sixty miles, be- 
tween the Humber and the Tees. These revolts seem to have steeled his 
heart against his English subjects. He seized every pretence for confis- 
cating their estates, which he bestowed on his Norman followers ; he 
built castles on commanding points at all the principal cities, and removed 
most of the Saxon prelates. Among others he deposed Stigand, and ap- 
pointed Lanfranc to that see, a prelate of great learning and piety. 

This reign was unfavourable to the independence of the English 
Church • for, though WilUam was himself little inclined to part with any 
of his power to Pope Gregory, (or Hildebrand,) yet having invaded En- 
gland under the sanction of a papal grant, and relying so much as he did 
on the Clergy for support, he doubtless in the main increased the influ- 
ence of Rome ; and the Norman prelates whom he brought in, if more 
learned, were also more infected with Romish errors than the Saxon 
clergy. One work of the Conqueror, which has lasted to our own times, 
is a proof of his wisdom and ability. This is a book called Doomsday 



146 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



Book, in which is contained an account of all the landed property 
throughout a great part of the kingdom, given after an accurate survey. 

The king died in Normandy, from a hurt received from the pommel of 
his saddle, and was buried at Caen, between the towers of the noble ca- 
thedral which he had founded. By his will his Norman dominions were 
left to Robert ; and William (called Rufus, or the Red, from the colour of 
his hair,) his second son, ascended the throne of England, A. D. 1087. 



William Rufus. 

Born in Normandy. Buried in Winchester Cathedral. Reigned from 
A.D. 1087 to A. D. 1100, thirteen years. 

The accession of William Rufus was unwelcome to the Norman barons. 
He had the cunning to court his Saxon subjects, in order to win their aid 
in quelling the revolt which was raised by the nobles in favour of his 
brother ; and when he had gained his point, he forgot his promises, and 
oppressed the English with a lawlessness more unbearable than his father's 
rigour. After the death of Lanfranc, who alone held him in any check, 
he seized the revenues of his see, and kept them for five years, together 
with those of many other abbeys and bishoprics ; nor was it till his con- 
science was alarmed by a dangerous illness, that he appointed Anselm to 
the primacy, who had been closely connected with Lanfranc, and who ac- 
cepted the office most unwillingly. When William was recovered of his 
illness, he continued to set God and man at defiance, and met the remon- 
strances of Anselm with such fury, that that prelate (who had gained the 
title of Saint, from his holiness and zeal in withstanding the unrighteous 
claims of earthly rulers,) was forced to withdraw himself from England. 

Not satisfied with his English dominions, William endeavoured to wrest 
even Normandy from his elder brother. He succeeded in gaining posses- 
sion of it, as a security for a sum of money advanced to that prince, who 
shared the zeal which was then kindled from one end of Europe to the 
other, for the recovery of Jerusalem from the Turks. 

William was shot unintentionally by Sir Walter Tyrrel, A.D. 1100, 
while hunting in the New Forest ; and when men recollected the means 
by which that district became a royal chase, they were not backward to 
ascribe this event to the righteous judgment of God. 

It may be remarked, that Westminster Hall was built by William Rufus. 



LECTURE XVIII. ENGLAND FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 147 



Henry I. 

Born at Selby in Yorkshire. Buried in the Abbey at Reading, Reigned 
35 years. Fro?n A..D. 1100 to A. I 135. 

Wlien William was thus slain, his brother Henry (surnamed Beauclerc, 
on account of his scholarship,) was hunting with him, and rode at once 
to Y/inchester, where he seized the royal treasure. He was crowned 
at Westminster within sixty-six hours of William's death. Feeling him- 
self in need of every support to the throne, which he had usurped, he be- 
gan by reforming abuses ; and gave charters to his people, by which he 
engaged to abstain from the oppressive act5 of power, from which they 
had suffered in the times of his brother and father. He also married 
Maude, daughter of Malcolm, King of Scotland, by Margaret, sister to 
Edgar Athehng ; and by these popular measures prepared himself to meet 
his brother Robert, who, on his return, took possession of Normandy, and 
soon landed at Portsmouth, to make good his claims on England. Through 
the mediation, however, of St. Anselm (who had now returned from 
Rome,) he was induced to give up his claims to Henry, retaining his Nor- 
man dukedom, and on condition that if either prince should die without 
issue, the survivor should succeed to his dominions. 

The fate of Robert is the greatest stain on Henry's memory. Easily 
finding a pretext for invading Normandy, Henry gained (after sundry 
transactions) a great battle, in which Robert was taken prisoner, with 
many other nobles. Being brought to England, he was confined for the 
remainder of his life, which lasted twenty-eight years, in Cardiff Castle ; 
a warning, that many noble quahties will not make up for that indolence 
which was his ruin. 

At this time, a contest was going on between the popes and the kings 
of Europe, involving the right to appoint bishops to their sacred offices. 
This great question was settled more happily in England than elsewhere, 
though not without the exercise of great firmness on the part of St. An- 
selm. It was agreed that the bishop should do homage for his temporal 
possessions, but the king resigned his claim to invest him with the ring 
and crosier. 

Henry passed the latter part of his life much in Normandy, especially 
after the birth of his daughter's children. He died in that country, of an 
illness occasioned by eating lampreys, A. D. 1135. 



Stephen. 

Born at Blois. Buried at Feversham, in Kent. Reigned 1 9 years. 
From A. D. 1135 to A. D. 1154. 

The sceptre which Henry had gained with so much crime, was wrested 
from his daughter by Stephen, a grandson of the conqueror by Adela, who 



148 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



married the count of Blois. Having prevailed on William of Corboil, 
Archbishop of Canterbury, to crown him (contrary to the allegiance which 
they had sworn to Maude,) he tried to strengthen his usurped authority 
by various concessions, of which none took real effect but the dangerous 
permission to his nobles to build castles at their will. His reign was little 
but a continued war with the empress, whose cause was most ably main- 
tained by her natural brother the Earl of Gloucester, and also by David 
her uncle, the King of Scots. 

In the various chances of this war, which desolated the kingdom from 
one end to the other, Stephen was at one time taken prisoner, and treated 
with great indignity by Maude, who caused herself to be crowned, and 
prevailed even on Stephen's brother, the Bishop of Winchester, to abandon 
him. Her haughtiness soon disgusted that prelate, and she was herself 
compelled to flee before the nobles, who revolted in Stephen's favour. The 
Earl of Gloucester, having been taken in battle, was exchanged for Ste- 
phen ; and it was now the Empress' turn to be often in great danger. On 
one occasion, she escaped her foes by being shut up in a coffin. On ano- 
ther, she fled by night, attended by four knights, in white dresses, that 
they might not be distinguished from the snow which was on the ground. 
The death of Eustace, the son of Stephen, removed one obstacle in the 
way of any agreement ; and at length, by the mediation of Theobald 
Archbishop of Canterbury, a treaty was concluded, by which Stephen was 
to be king during his life, and the crown to devolve on Henry, the Em- 
press' son, to whom the nobles did homage as heir-apparent. 

The influence of Rome was now making great strides in England. 
William of Corboil had given a fatal blow to the liberty of our Church, by 
consenting to act as the pope's legate, rather than by his own authority 
as the primate of England ; and in this turbulent reign, men looked to the 
power of the Church as the only shelter from the lawlessness of the barons, 
who reigned as petty princes in their castles ; of which twelve hundred 
are said to have been built in this reign. The readiness with which men 
of all parties forgot the sanctity of oaths, is no less a mark of this dismal 
period, than the cruelty of the nobles. The king himself was not destitute 
of such qualities as engaged the affections of his followers ; but by his 
own perjury, in usurping the throne, he set an example which men were 
too apt to copy. He died A. D. 1154; and was succeeded by Prince 
Henry. 



Henry II. 

Born in Anjou. Bvriedin the Abbey of Fontevrault. Reigned 35 years. 
From A.D. 1154 to k.Y>. 1189. 

With the name of Plantagenet, Henry brought a vast accession of terri- 
tory to the English crown. From his father he inherited Anjou ; and 
Normandy had been given up to him by his mother. He possessed the 



LECTURE XVIII. — ENGLAND FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 149 

provinces of France, from the Loire to the Pyrenees, in right of Eleanor, 
whom he married after she was divorced from Louis VIL, the king of 
France. In the course of his reign he acquired Bretagne by the marriage 
of Geoffrey, one of his younger sons, with Constance, the heiress of that 
duchy. It may be doubted whether these foreign provinces added to the 
real greatness of England. They were the source of endless wars with 
France, both in the time of Henry, and in the reigns of his successors for 
many generations. 

What was dearer to the English than these foreign possessions was the 
knowledge, that in Henry they had for their sovereign a descendant of the 
Saxon kings : and he showed himself no unworthy descendant of them, 
not only by his many conquests, but by doing much to revive the Saxon 
customs, which were so favourable to English liberty. 

On the death of Archbishop Theobald, the king looked out for some 
successor to that prelate, on whom he could rely in his endeavours to curb 
the encroachments of the clergy, and appointed Thomas a Becket, whom 
he had himself raised to the office of Lord Chancellor, a man whose cha- 
racter has been unjustly aspersed as a hypocrite, whereas extant docu- 
ments show that he was in secret as austere in his religion, when Chan- 
cellor, as afterwards. Never did a king take a step more fatal to his own 
views. No sooner was Becket consecrated, than he set himself to resist 
the wishes of the king, and Henry found himself bitterly opposed by the 
very prelate, on whose aid he had counted. He summoned, however, 
a large council at Clarendon, where certain articles (called the Constitu- 
tions of Clarendon) were agreed to, by which the Clergy were to be tried 
in the civil courts, and no appeal allowed to Rome, without the king's li- 
cence. Becket subscribed these articles, but afterwards withdrew his con- 
fession ; and being assailed by Henry with a succession of vexatious mea- 
sures, he once took in his own hands the silver cross that was usually 
carried before him, and thus walked into Henry's presence-chamber ; 
where amidst the assembled nobles he singly maintained his claims, with 
a courage that would have been worthy of admiration, had his con- 
duct been more consistent. He then fled into France, where he was 
protected by Louis, and sanctioned by the pope, in excommunicating 
his enemies, and threatening to lay the whole kingdom under an in- 
terdict ; the effect of which would have been, that no divine office of any 
kind could have been performed. The king's proceedings against Becket, 
in his absence, were marked by his usual violence more than by wisdom. 
Finding at length that his interests were much affected by that prelate's 
residence in France, he agreed to an accommodation, and Becket returned 
to England. During his exile, he had by seclusion, austerity, and study, 
become an enthusiast, and behaved with less moderation towards Henry 
and the bishops of the king's party, than was befitting a Christian minis- 
ter. WHien his proceedings were reported to Henry, the king passionately 
exclaimed, ^' Have I no one to rid me of the insults of this priest ?" These 
words induced four knights to follow the Archbishop to Canterbury, where 
they slew him on the very steps of the altar ; a deed which caused Henry 
the deepest concern, and, as he foresaw, involved him in great diffif;ulty. 
Becket was canonized by the pope as a saint, about two years after his 

u 2 



150 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



death ; and all the actors or ahettors in his murder were at once excommu- 
nicated. To show his sorrow for having in any degree occasioned the 
Archbishop's death, Henry some time afterwards walked in solemn pro- 
cession to the shrine which was built over Becket's tomb, and having 
bared his shoulders, submitted to be severely scourged by the monks. 

Ireland was then divided among several petty kings, and the aid of 
Henry was sought by Dermot, king of Leinster, against the Kings of Con- 
naught and Meath. Henry had already meditated the conquest of that 
island, of which he had received a grant from Adrian IV., the only En- 
glishman that was ever pope. He w^as, therefore, glad to avail himself of 
the opening thus afforded, and sanctioned an enterprise which was suc- 
cessfully conducted by Richard Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, who mar- 
ried Dermot's daughter, and succeeded to his crown. Henry himself 
afterwards landed in Ireland, and the princes of that country submitted 
to him without resistance. It has ever since beon annexed to England, 
and is now united with Great Britain into one kingdom. We must confess 
with shame, that England invaded Ireland in defence of adultery, and by 
virtue of a recognition of the Pope's power to dispose of kingdoms. So 
unscnipulous is ambition ! 

The troubles of Henry did not cease with the removal of Becket. The 
latter years of his life were saddened by the rebellions of his sons ; nor 
can this domestic unhappiness excite surprise, when his treatment of 
Queen Eleanor is remembered : for Henry had several children by a lady, 
whose seclusion at Woodstock, under the name of 'The Fair Rosamond,' has 
been the groundwork of much romance, probably little founded on fact. 
Notwithstanding this unfaithfulness, the king was tenderly attached to 
his lawful offspring. He had his eldest son Henry crowned in England ; 
l)ut that prince died before his father ; as also did Geoffrey, whose widow 
bore a son named Arthur, after her husband's death. Richard was en- 
trusted with the government of Guienne, and too often leagued himself 
with his father's enemies in open rebellion. This was, indeed, the case at 
the time of Henry's death ; which was hastened by the deep mortification 
of having been worsted in battle by Philip of France, assisted by Prince 
Richard, and of finding that John, his fourth and favourite son, was in 
league against him. He died A. D. 1189, and was buried at Fontevrault. 
He has ever been regarded as one of the ablest and greatest of our kings, 
and was as remarkable for courtesy as courage. It is to be lamented, 
that a character so eminent should have been stained by such great vices, — 
viz. lying, violence of temper, and adultery. 



Richard I. 

Born in Oxford. Buried at Fontevrault. Reigned 10 years. From 
A.D. 1189 to A. D. 1199. 

Richard was surnamed Coeur de Leon, on account of his remarkable 
courage, and the rude magnanimity of his character. He showed deep 



LECTURE XVIII. ENGLAND FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 151 

feeling at the sight of his father's corpse, and dismissed the counsellors 
by whose evil advice he had been led into undutiful conduct. 

The great renown of this king is derived from his conquests in the 
Crusade which he undertook in concurrence with Philip Augustus, king of 
France, whose perfidious and selfish character was a striking contrast to 
the reckless hardihood and generous self-devotion of Richard. 

His victories were fruitless of any real or lasting good ; and in his return 
from Palestine, this champion of Christendom was seized by an Archduke 
of Austria, whom he had offended, and cast into prison ; nor did his sub- 
jects know the fate of their sovereign, till the place of his captivity was 
discovered by a minstrel named Blondel, who had been in Richard's ser- 
vice. A vast ransom was demanded for the king, and was raised by his 
subjects with great alacrity. His return struck his enemies with dismay, 
and especially his brother John, who had basely taken advantage of his 
absence, to raise a party for himself. The generous king was easily recon- 
ciled to his brother ; and in the later years of his reign he gained many 
victories over his old enemy, Philip of France. He was shot by an arrow 
in one of his wars, before the castle of Chaluz. He died A. D. 1199, 
liaving made a will in favour of his brother John, and to the prejudice of 
his nephew Arthur, the rightful heir to the crown. 



John. 

Born at Woodstock. Buried at Worcester. Reigned 17 years. From 
A.D. 1199 to A.D. 1216. 

The odious and despicable character of John was not likely to reconcile 
his nobles to the irregularity of his title ; but they seem to have felt that 
that defect gave them advantage, in struggling with their sovereign for 
the privileges of their own order. The cause of Arthur was, therefore, 
left to such support as it might receive from Philip Augustus, by whose 
aid it prospered for a time on the continent. At length the youthful 
prince was taken in battle, and is believed to have been stabbed by the 
hand of his uncle in the castle of Rouen. Philip well knew how to avail 
himself of the horror excited by this deed ; and succeeded in compelling 
John to abandon Normandy, which was re-united to the French crown. 
{8ee Shakespere' s King John.) 

A dispute now arose between John and the monks of Canterbury, about 
the election of an Archbishop, which led in the first instance to the deep 
humiliation of the king, but finally to his concession of the Great Charter 
of English freedom. The settlement of this dispute was taken by the 
pope (Innocent III.) into his own hands, and he appointed Stephen Lang- 
ton to the vacant see. [It may be mentioned, that this is the prelate to 
whom we owe the present division of the Bible into chapters and verses.] 
Had John resisted this appointment by legal means, he would have been 



152 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



supported by his subjects ; but the violent measures which he took only 
gave advantage to the pope, who laid the kingdom under an interdict, 
pronounced the deposition of John, and desired Philip to take possession 
of England. The king of France prepared an armament to execute this 
sentence, and Cardinal Pandulf was sent over apparently to support that 
monarch, but with secret instructions to receive the submission which 
John in his abject terror was ready to make. To his lasting shame, in 
the midst of a vast concourse of people at Dover, he laid his crown at the 
feet of Pandulf, who kept it five days, and trampled under foot the tribute- 
money which John paid in token of fealty to the haughty legate. The 
French king was now ordered to give up his enterprise, but he resolved 
to persist. His fleet, however, was attacked by the English, and almost 
wholly destroyed. 

By thus declaring himself a vassal of Rome, John secured the protection 
of the pope in the contests with his barons, in which his continued perfidy 
and rapacity involved him. The cause of English freedom, on the other 
hand, found a champion in Langton, whose support of the barons, in their 
struggle against the odious tyrant, drew on him the anger of Pope Inno- 
cent, by whom he was after a time suspended, nor was he restored till the 
following reign. 

The barons, having raised a great army, and made themselves masters 
of London, forced the king to submit to their demands. He met them on 
Runnymede, between Staines and Windsor, and the great charter of En- 
glish freedom, called Magna Charta, was sealed at that spot, June 19, 
1215. 

It was in this reign that the Crusaders, on their way to the Holy Land, 
took Constantinople, and established a Latin dynasty of the Greek empire 
in the family of Courtenay. A crusade was unjustifiably sanctioned about 
the same time against the Albigenses in the South of France, on the 
ground of their religious opinions, which have been shown by Mr. Mait- 
land to have been the Manichean Heresy. 



Henry III. 

Bo7'n at Winchester. Buried at Westminster Abbey. Reigned 56 years. 
From A. D. 1216 to A. D. 1272. 

Henry was but nine years old at the time of his father's death ; but the 
Earl of Pembroke, who became regent, was happily a nobleman of high 
principle and great ability. By his wise measures he revived the loyalty 
of the English for their lawful sovereign, and succeeded in forcing the 
prince of France to withdraw from the kingdom. 

The death of the Earl was a great loss to Henry ; who being as weak 
and fickle as he was haughty and rapacious, was for the most part governed 
by a succession of favourites. He swore to the observance of the Great 
Charter at his coronation, but his whole reign was an endeavour to break 
loose from its restraints. 



LECTURE XVIII. ENGLAND FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST 153 

Henry was generally supported by his brother Richard, Earl of Corn- 
wall, a far abler prince than himself ; but on Richard's being chosen king 
of the Romans, Henry found himself left alone to contend against his 
barons, who were now headed by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. 
Henry had been extravagantly fond of that nobleman, and given him his own 
sister in marriage ; but the fondness had given place to the most bitter 
aversion, and Leicester took arms against his sovereign, as well as opposed 
him in the parliaments, which were held from time to time in hope of 
obtaining money. The king was taken prisoner by Leicester, at the battle 
of Lewes, and detained, together with prince Edward his son, for a con- 
siderable period, while the kingdom was governed in his name by twenty- 
four barons, at whose head was Leicester. 

Nothing could be more wretched than the state of England at this time. 
No man was secure in his life or property, and the country was over-run 
by bands of robbers, who committed the greatest excesses. The Jews 
were especial sufferers, not indeed only in England, but throughout 
Europe, in this reign, and those both before and after it. They were 
cruelly tortured in order to extort their wealth, and this avarice and op- 
pression were cloaked under a seeming zeal for Christianity. Deeply, how- 
ever, as England suffered from the extortions and insurrections which 
mark this period, it was amidst such storms as these that the cradle of 
English liberty was rocked. An over-ruling Providence was preparing the 
way for the estabhshment of reUgion and justice, by the very sufferings 
which appeared to ensure the ruin of England. Thus, on the one hand, 
the extortions of the pope disposed men's minds to question his authority ; 
and a manly protest was made against them by Grosteste, Bishop of Lin- 
coln, a prelate of great piety, as well as learning and courage. On the 
other hand, the necessity which Leicester felt of some support in his vio- 
lent course, led him to assemble a parliament, in which the Commons 
were for the first time represented. Knights chosen by the shires were at 
first added to the nobles and prelates, and in a later assembly (A. D. 
1265,) the towns also were represented by burgesses. The proceedings 
of the early parliaments were perhaps rude and tumultuous ; but the 
principle was thus established, that the commonalty have a right to a 
voice by representatives in the great national council. 

A jealousy having sprung up between Leicester and Gilbert de Clare, 
Earl of Gloucester, the latter nobleman aided Prince Edward to escape 
from those who had him in custody. Having assembled an army, the 
prince defeated the barons in the battle of Evesham, in which Leicester 
lost his hfe. This nobleman had put the aged king in front of the battle, 
that he might be killed by his own friends ; and Henry would have been 
slain, had he not cried out to the soldier who was on the point of cutting 
him down, I am Henry of Winchester, your king." 

Prince Edward was able, after this victory, to re-estabHsh his father's 
authority so firmly, that he was not afraid to join a crusade with Louis, 
king of France, called St. Louis. 

Prince Edward was still absent from England when his father died, 
A. D. 1272. The reign of Henry is the longest in the Enghsh History, 
except the reign of George IIL 



LECTURE XIX. 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND FROM THE 
NORMAN CONQUEST-CONTINUED. 

Edward I. 

Born at Westminster. Buried in Westminster Abbey. Reigned 35 
years. From A. D. 1272 to A. D. 1307. 

Edward was surnamed Longshanks, from his remarkable length of 
limb. While in Palestine, he distinguished himself by his valour against 
the infidels, and was wounded by an assassin, whom they hired to kill 
him. He was able himself to dispatch his cowardly foe ; but the dagger 
with which he had been struck was poisoned, and the wound was likely to 
be fatal. It has been said that Edward owed his life to the affection of 
his queen, who ventured to suck the venom from his arm. He was wel- 
comed by his subjects on his return ; and by the wisdom of his laws, and 
his just severity in enforcing them, he restored the kingdom to its former 
prosperity. 

He punished offenders without respect of persons ; and once when his son, 
Prince Edward, was influenced by Gaveston, his favourite, to insult the 
Bishop of Lichfield, the king gave orders to commit him to prison, that he 
might learn to respect the laws which he was afterwards to administer. 
His severe inquiries into many abuses often exposed him to the resent- 
ment of the nobles ; and when Earl Warrenne was questioned as to his 
right to his estate, that nobleman unsheathed a rusty sword, as the title 
by which his ancestors gained their property, and with which he was pre- 
pared to defend it to the last. 

It must be owned, that in the wars which Edward carried on, whether 
in Wales or Scotland, he did not always follow those principles of justice 
which he did so much to establish among his subjects. The conquest of 
Wales was one of the greatest events of this reign. He built the strong 
castles of Conway, Caernarvon, and elsewhere, of which such noble ruins 
still remain ; and, to reconcile the Welsh to their loss of independence, he 
presented to them his infant son, born at Caernarvon, as their prince. He 
had promised them a ruler born in Wales, who could not speak a word of 
English. The Welsh could not charge him with having broken the letter 
of his word, though perhaps they expected a very different performance of 
it. From this time, the eldest son of our sovereign has had the title of 
Prince of Wales. 

Having added Wales to his kingdom, Edward next sought some plea 
for taking part in the affairs of Scotland, and soon found one to his pur- 
pose. The heiress of that country was the daughter of the king of Nor- 
way, and had been betrothed to Prince Edward. She was called the Maid 
of Norway, and died before she arrived in Scotland. The crown was then 



LECTURE XIX. ENGLAND FROM THE NORMAN CONaUEST. 155 



claimed by twelve competitors ; and Edward took advantage of sucli di- 
vided interests, to obtain a recognition of his claim (as lord superior) to 
act as umpire in the question. The principal claimants were Robert Bruce 
and John Balliol ; and the crown was awarded by Edward to Balliol, be- 
cause the feebleness of his character was likely to favour his designs. He 
soon began to treat Balliol as a subject ; and on his unexpected revolt, 
defeated him at Dunbar, and forced him to resign his crown. Edward, on 
that occasion, brought away from Scotland the famous stone on which the 
kings were always crowned, and he destroyed the records of the kingdom. 
The stone thus brought away was regarded by the Scotch as a kind of 
pledge of empire. It was placed by Edward in Westminster Abbey. 

Indignant at Edward's usurpation, the Scotch made Sir William Wallace 
their regent ; but after many heroic efforts, that great leader was defeated 
at the battle of Falkirk ; and having been taken prisoner, was executed 
with the same cruelty which had been exercised on David, the Welsh 
prince. 

With aU his severity, Edward could not break the national spirit of the 
Scotch. A new conspiracy was formed by Bruce and Cumin, who suc- 
ceeded Wallace as regent. Cumin betrayed the design to Edward ; and 
was himself killed in a monastery at Dumfries by Bruce, who asserted his 
own title to the throne, and was soon crowned at Scone. This great prince 
was afterwards reduced to such extremity, that he was hunted even by his 
own countrymen from one hiding place to another, while Edward reduced 
the Scotch to the most helpless misery, and wreaked his vengeance even 
on Bruce' s sisters, and on the Countess of Buchan, whom he inclosed in 
cages, and hung over the battlements of different castles. Nothing, how- 
ever, could make the noble Bruce despair of delivering his country ; and 
his renewed efforts provoked the king to swear that he would march into 
Scotland, and never return till he had subdued it. He kept his word so 
far, that he never returned. He was taken ill at Carlisle, and died at 
Burgh-on-the-Sands, A. D. 1307. 

Stern as Edward showed himself to his enemies, he was tenderly at- 
tached to Eleanor his queen ; and several records of that attachment still 
exist, in the crosses which he built at the several places where her remains 
rested, on their way from Lincoln, to be interred at Westminster. 



Edward II. 

Born at Caernarmn. Buried in Gloucester Cathedral. Reigned 20 years. 
From A. D. 1307 to A. D. 1327. 

Edward of Caernarvon did not inherit his father's wisdom together with 
his throne. His reign is similar to that of his grandfather, whom he re- 
sembled in character. He was governed by unworthy favourites, whom 
he chose for their personal beauty and accomphshments, and whose inso- 

X 



156 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



lence became insufferable to his barons. The first of these was Pierce de 
Gaveston. It was hoped that Edward's marriage with Isabel of Valois, 
sister to the French king, would divert him from his weak attachment to 
that favourite ; but it remained as strong as before. He was forced by the 
barons to send Gaveston out of the kingdom, but soon found some excuse 
for recalling him ; and at length the favourite was seized by Guy, Earl of 
Warwick, and beheaded at a hill near Warwick, still called Gaverside. 

While Edward was thus at variance with his barons, Robert Bruce had 
carried everything before him in Scotland ; and the king now resolved to 
recover what his father had gained in that country at such a sacrifice of 
human happiness. He marched to the relief of Stirling at the head of a 
vast army, which was totally defeated by Bruce at the battle of Bannock- 
burn. (A. D. 1314.) This battle is one of the most glorious events in 
Scottish history, and secured the independence of that country under 
Bruce, whose name is joined with that of Wallace, as the most renowned 
and dearest in the annals of Scotland. 

The reign of Edward was afterwards disturbed by insurrections in Ire- 
land and Wales ; but still more by the consequences of his affection for 
Hugh Despencer, who (together with his father) succeeded to the place 
which Gaveston had held in the king's affections, and was equally odious 
to the barons, from his rapacity and pride. The barons were now headed 
by the Earl of Lancaster, the cousin of Edward, and the Despencers were 
forced from the kingdom. The king was forced to fly into Wales. The 
elder Despencer was taken and beheaded, at the age of ninety ; the younger 
was afterwards hanged ; while Edward, having been discovered, was kept 
a prisoner, and forced to resign his crown to his son (then fifteen years of 
age); during whose minority the Queen and Mortimer were declared re- 
gents. (A. D. 1.326.) 

Such was the miserable end of Edward's reign ; during which, the ef- 
fect of those measures which his father had taken to resist the influence 
of the pope, was lessened by Edward's continual applications to Rome for 
assistance against his barons. 

It may be remarked, that at this time the popes had removed their 
court from Rome to Avignon. A violent contest had been going on be- 
tween the popes and Philip the Fair, king of France. On the death of 
Benedict XL, Philip obtained the election of a French Prelate, who took 
the name of Clement V., and who removed his court to this French city, 
where they resided about seventy years. 



Edward III. (of Windsor.) 

Born at Windsor. Buried in Westminster Abbey. Reigned 50 years. 
From A.D. 1327 to A. D. 1377. 

The deposed king was at first entrusted to the Earl of Lancaster, and 
treated with much gentleness ; but was soon removed to Berkeley Castle, 



LECTURE XIX. ENGLAND FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 157 

and committed to the care of two ruffians named Gurney and Maltravers. 
Under their charge, he was lodged in damp vaults, and even hurried from 
place to place at night, in the hope that he might be provoked by ill-usage 
to put an end to his own life. It is said that when he desired to be shaved, 
he was supphed with dirty water from a ditch. A t last, he was secretly 
despatched in his prison. 

Mortimer had been made Earl of March, and surpassed Gaveston and 
Despencer in haughtiness. He procured the execution even of the Earl of 
Kent, brother to the late king, on a charge of treason ; and perhaps 
thought his power secure, at the very moment when his downfall was at 
hand. The young king had reached his eighteenth year, and given proof 
of spirit and abihty in delivering the northern counties from an invasion 
of the Scots under Bruce. He resolved to submit no longer to a yoke 
which was disgraceful in so many ways ; and was able to surprise the Earl 
of March in the castle of Nottingham by a secret passage, still caUed Mor- 
timer's Hole. 

His greatest victories, however, were gained at Cressy and Poictiers ; 
and have made the names of those places familiar to every Englishman. 

The battle of Cressy was fought with Philip of Valois, king of France, 
A. D. 1346. The French are said to have had an army of 120,000 men, 
while the number of the English was not more than 30,000 : and Edward 
himself only watched the battle from a neighbouring hill, that (in his own 
words) his son might "win his spurs," the gilt spurs, which were the 
distinction of knighthood. Thirty thousand of the French fell in this 
battle, while the loss of the English was very trifling. Among others the 
king of Bohemia was slain, and his crest of three ostrich plumes has ever 
since been used by the Princes of Wales, with the motto, " Ich Dien," / 
serve. It is said that cannon were first used at Cressy, and contributed 
to Edward's success ; but this and many other battles were mainly gained 
(under Divine Providence) by the skill of the English archers, the most 
renowned in Europe. 

The battle of Poictiers took place about ten years after the victory of 
Cressy. The Black Prince had about 12,000 men under his command, 
and was met by John, king of France, with an army of 60,000. On seeing 
the numbers of the French, the prince exclaimed, " God help us ! it only 
remains to fight bravely." Some attempts vrere made to prevent blood- 
shed, but John would agree to nothing short of a surrender of the prince 
and a hundred of his knights. Edward received this proposal by exclaim- 
ing, God defend the right !" and the result of the battle which then took 
place was, that the French army was destroyed, and John himself taken 
prisoner. The mildness and generosity with which Edward treated the 
captive king were equal to his courage in the field. He ascribed his 
victory to the will of God, when he waited on the king at the table ; and 
declared himself, as a subject, not entitled to the honour of sitting with 
him. "WTien he brought his royal prisoner into London, he rode on a 
small pony by his side, while John was mounted on a noble charger. 
It should be mentioned to the lasting honour of this king, that having 
been set free on terms which his son was unable to fulfil, from the oppo- 



x2 



158 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



sition of the French nobles, John voluntarily gave himself up to Edward, 
observing that if truth were banished from the rest of the earth, it should 
have place in the bosom of kings. He died in England ; but his son, 
Charles the Wise, succeeded in wresting from the English most of their 
foreign possessions. The Black Prince was himself forced by the state of 
his health to return to England, where he died (A, D. 1377,) about a 
year before his father. His health had suffered much in a war which he 
imdertook in Spain, in support of Pedro the Cruel, who little deserved 
the aid of so chivalrous a prince. 

The king did not long survive his son : he died A. D. 1377 ; and is said 
to have been shamefully neglected in his last moments by his own ser- 
vants. 

The revival of literature made great progress in this reign. Chaucer, the 
father of English poetry, passed great part of his life at Edward's court. 
At no period were the principles of church architecture better understood ; 
and it was chiefly by this king that Windsor Castle was built. He did 
much also for the commerce of his kingdom, by inviting over Flemish 
artisans, whom he settled in Norfolk. It should be mentioned, too, that 
from this reign the Commons seem to have sat as a distinct House of Par- 
liament. 

It is, however, still more important to observe, that the nullity of king 
John's surrender of his crown to the pope was nobly maintained by Ed- 
ward and his Parliament. The king was assisted in this manly course by 
the theological attainments of Wickhffe, who declared that the Scriptures 
contained all essential truth. This pious and learned man is reckoned the 
first of the English Reformers. 

In the year 1349, the whole of Europe was visited by one of the most 
terrible plagues ever known. 



ElCHARD II. (of BoURDEAUX.) 

Born at Bourdeaux. Buried at Langley in Herts ; but afterwards 
removed to Westminster. Beigned 12 years. From A.J). 1377 
to A.J). 1399. 

Edward was succeeded by his grandson Richard, the only son of the 
Black Prince. The new king was only in his eleventh year, and the 
heir next in succession to himself was the grandchild of Lionel, Duke of 
Clarence, a son of the late king, who died before his father. The sur- 
viving sons of Edward were John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster, Edmund 
Earl of Cambridge, afterwards made Duke of York, and Thomas of Wood- 
stock, afterwards Duke of Gloucester. A council of regency was appointed, 
in which the uncles of the king had seats ; but certain bishops and no- 
bles were associated with them. 



LECTURE XIX. — ENGLAND FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST, 159 

The war still lingered on in France, and, to meet its expenses, a poll-tax 
was raised of three groats a head for every person, rich or poor, of fifteen 
years and upwards. At this time the lower orders in various parts of Eu- 
rope had been inflamed by the violent language of men, who dwelt with 
too much reason on the bondage in which they were held. In England 
these notions had been spread abroad by a priest named John Ball ; and 
the people lent a ready ear to what agreed so well with their cherished 
traditions of the Saxon laws and customs. The poll-tax came upon a 
people in this state of mind, like a spark on a prepared train. The first 
dispute was likely to cause an explosion ; and it was not long before such 
a dispute arose. The tax was demanded of a young girl at Dartford, and 
refused, on the ground that she was under the age. The brutal collector 
offered a gross insult to the girl, and was struck down at a blow by her 
father, who was called Wat Tyler, and was supported by the people in his 
bold deed. He was soon at the head of a vast multitude, whom he led to 
London. Rank, property, and learning were denounced. The mob struck 
off the heads of every gentleman or foreigner whom they met. The Tem- 
ple and Savoy Palace were plundered ; and while the king proceeded to 
Mile End, to meet some of the insurgents, Tyler himself broke into the 
Tower, and murdered the Archbishop with other obnoxious persons. In 
this emergency, when a panic seemed to have seized the upper classes, 
the king, then only fifteen, behaved with remarkable judgment and 
presence of mind. He addressed the mob with mildness, and promised 
them the redress of their grievances. 

Richard now ruled with an utter disregard to law, and many of the 
nobles, who had more or less joined with Gloucester, saw reason to fear 
for their own safety. Among them were the Duke of Norfolk and Henry 
Bolinbroke, Duke of Hereford, son of John of Gaunt. It seems that Nor- 
folk sounded the other on the means of averting their common danger ; 
but was betrayed by him to the king, and accused of high treason. 
Richard decided that the question should be tried by wager of battle ; and 
the combatants had actually met in the lists, when the king interfered, 
and banished both from England, — Norfolk for life, and Hereford for ten 
years. During Bolinbroke's exile, his father died; and when Henry claimed 
the Dukedom of Lancaster, it was unjustly with-held by Richard, who 
seemed to think himself above all law. Enraged at this injustice, Bolin- 
broke landed in Yorkshire with sixty followers, and was joined by the 
Earl of Northumberland, together with his son, surnamed Hotspur, and 
many others. (See Skakespere, Richard II.) 

When he landed at Ravenspur, he gave out that he came only to claim 
his own, though doubtless he meant all along to possess himself of the 
crown. Richard after much loss of time returned from Ireland, to crush 
the rebellion, and landed at Milford in Wales ; but finding that his sub- 
jects deserted him, he surrendered himself to Bolinbroke, by whom he was 
brought to London, and persuaded to resign the crown. Henry declared 
himself king in full parliament, A. D. 1399, by the title of Henry IV. 
He claimed the crown as heir to Henry III., on a groundless notion that 
Edmund, from whence he was descended, was the eldest son of that king, 
and set aside on account of some deformity. This false pretension was 



160 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



admitted at the time ; but Henry's unlawful title was the occasion of 
the wars between York and Lancaster, which afterwards desolated the 
kingdom. 



Henry IV. (of Bolinbroke). 

Bojm at Bolinbroke. Buried at Canterbury . Reigned 14 years. 
From A. D. 1399 to A. D. 1413. 

The dethronement of a prince has generally been followed by his mur- 
der ; and it is to be feared that the case of Richard is no exception to this 
statement. A conspiracy was formed in his favour, and its explosion was 
rapidly followed by his death at Pontefract Castle. The most probable 
account of this deed of darkness is, that Sir Piers of Exton was sent with 
seven attendants to murder him ; from one of whom Richard snatched a 
battle-axe, and killed some of the others ; but was overpowered by num- 
bers. His remains were interred at Langley, and followed by Henry him- 
self ; who detained the young Earl of March in confinement, as being the 
grandson of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, rightful heir to the crown. 

The reign of Henry is little but a succession of conspiracies. He was 
soon called to meet Northumberland and Hotspur in the field, who had 
been so forward in helping him to mount the throne. They formed an 
alliance with Earl Douglas, whom they had taken prisoner in a battle with 
the Scots at Homildon-hill ; and also with Owen Glendower, a Welsh 
chieftain, who maintained a lawless independence among the mountains of 
Wales. The king defeated these conspirators in the Battle of Shrewsbury ; 
but this rebellion was only the prelude to others, which continually dis- 
turbed him in the possession of his usurped authority. It has also been 
said, that he had great anxiety from the character of his eldest son, who 
gave indeed indications at times of the high qualities which he afterwards 
showed, but addicted himself to low companions and pleasures. This 
opinion has perhaps been the less questioned from the use which our 
greai dramatist Shakespere has made of it ; but it has been combated with 
many weighty objections. {See Memoirs of Henry V. by Rev. J. E. Tyler ^ 
B. D.) It should, however, be mentioned, that the prince is said on one 
occasion to have drawn his sword on Chief Justice Gascoyne, when that 
magistrate refused to release one of Henry's riotous companions. The 
judge committed the prince to prison, who submitted meekly to the sen- 
tence. It is added, that when the king heard of the affair, he exclaimed, 
"Happy is the king who has a judge so resolute in executing the law, and 
a son so willing to submit to it." 

In this reign was passed a law to authorize the burning of heretics. It 
seems probable that Henry, who felt the weakness of his title, consented 
to this law, in the hope of enUsting on his side the clergy, who lost no time 
in carrying out the statute. 



LECTURE XIX. ENGLAND FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 161 



The cares inseparable from royalty were in Henry's case embittered by 
remorse of conscience, and undermined his health. He died in the forty- 
sixth year of his life, A. D. 1413, and was succeeded by his eldest son. 



Henry V. (of Monmouth.) 

Born at Monmouth. Buried at Westminster. Reigned 9 years. From 
A. D. 1413 to A.D. 1422. 

The king was eager to reconquer the possessions of his ancestors in 
France, which, notwithstanding the victories of Edward, had gradually 
been wrested from the English. Henry sailed to the mouth of the Seine, 
where he took the town of Harfleur, and divided a vast treasure among the 
soldiers. His army, however, being reduced by sickness to little more 
than 12,000 men, he determined to withdraw to Calais, and on his way 
was met by the French army, amounting to 100,000 men, near the castle 
of Agincourt. His defeat seemed inevitable, and the French made so sure 
of it, that they passed the night in revels, and even fixed the ransom of 
Henry and his barons. The English employed the time in devotional exer- 
cises, and Henry went from post to post, cheering and inspiriting his 
men. Hearing an ofiicer say, that he wished for more men from England, 
he declared that he wished not for one man more. If God gave them the 
victory, the glory would be the greater ; and if not, the loss to England 
would be the less. The result of the battle was one of the most astonish- 
ing victories on record. The flower of the French nobility fell in this 
fatal field. It is computed that 8000 gentlemen were slain, while the loss 
of the EugUsh is said to have been not more than eighty. 

Henry marched to Troyes, where a treaty was concluded, by which 
Henry was declared Regent of France during the life of Charles VI., whose 
daughter (the princess Katherine) he was to marry. He was also declared 
heir to the crown, at the death of Charles. 

The young queen was brought to England, and the joy of the nation was 
at its height, when she gave birth to a son at Windsor. 

The queen-dowager afterwards married Owen Tudor, a gentleman of 
Wales, by whom she had Edmund, Earl of Richmond, and Jasper, Earl of 
Pembroke. The descendants of this marriage were destined to sit on the 
throne of England. 



162 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



Henry VI. 

Born at Windsor. Buried at Chertsey, hut removed to Windsor. 
Reigned 39 years. From A. D. 1422 to A. D. 1461. 

The English interest in France was managed, after Henry's death, by 
the Duke of Bedford ; in whose absence, the Duke of Gloucester was re- 
garded as protector of the infant king in England. Gloucester was a 
favourite with the people, and long remembered as good Duke Hum- 
phrey but was bitterly opposed by Cardinal Beaufort, a son of John of 
Gaunt by Catherine Swynford, whom John married at a later period, and 
whose children by that prince were made legitimate by Richard II. 

In France, the English were for a short time successful against the 
dauphin, who became Charles VII. by the death of his father. They had 
laid siege to Orleans, with a view to complete the conquest of the king- 
dom, when the face of things was changed by the appearance of one of 
the most remarkable persons recorded in history. This was Joan of Arc, 
a maiden of humble birth, who believed herself commissioned by God to 
expel the English. Charles gladly gave ear to a claim which favoured 
his interest ; and by the enthusiasm which her presence excited in the 
French, and the terror which it spread among the English, she succeeded 
in fulfilling her word, that the siege of Orleans should be raised, and that 
Charles should be crowned at Rheims. From this time the English interest 
declined. Henry was indeed crowned at Paris, and Joan herself, having 
been taken prisoner, was cruelly burnt as a sorceress at Rouen ; but after 
the death of the Duke of Bedford, a treaty was made between Charles 
and the Duke of Burgundy ; and notwithstanding the skill and courage of 
Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, the English were finally driven out of France, 
about the year 1450. 

The popular discontent, which arose from the disasters in France and 
mis-government at home, was fomented by Richard Duke of York, and 
broke out in an insurrection, under an obscure leader, named Jack Cade, 
who defeated the royal forces, and entered London in triumph, where he 
put to death the Lord Say, and others of the nobility. His men having 
quarrelled, he was forced to flee, and was slain by a gentleman named 
Iden, in Kent, in whose garden he was hid. 

The Duke of York, who claimed the throne as heir to the Earl of March, 
now raised an army for the avowed purpose of reforming the abuses in the 
government. He was met by the Duke of Somerset at St. Alban's, and 
a battle took place, in which Somerset, Clifibrd, and other noblemen, fell. 
Finding that his chance of a peaceable succession was lessened by the 
birth of a Prince of Wales, York at length openly claimed the crown ; and 
a war began between the houses of York and Lancaster, which for a 
period of thirty years carried enmity and sorrow to every hearthstone in 
England, and cut off successive generations of many noble families in the 



LECTURE XIX. — ENGLAND FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 



163 



field or on the scaffold. It is called the War of the Hoses, because a white 
Rose was the badge of the house of York, and a red Rose the cognizance of 
the house of Lancaster. During these civil wars, the Enghsh possessions 
on the continent (except Calais) were annexed to the French crown ; and 
this loss may be reckoned a real gain, among the many evils of these con- 
tests ; because, when peace came back, the undivided care of the govern- 
ment was given to the true prosperity of the nation. 

The claims of York were supported by the powerful family of the 
Nevilles, at the head of which was the Earl of Salisbury. His son, the 
Earl of Warwick, who was the greatest leader of the age, defeated the 
forces of Henry at Northampton ; and it was agreed, in a parliament after- 
wards holden in London, that Henry should have the crown for his life, 
and York should be declared his successor. The queen Margaret of Anjoii, 
however, raised an army in the north, with which she completely routed 
the Yorkists at Wakefield, where the Duke himself fell into her hands, and 
his second son, the Earl of Rutland, a youth of seventeen, was butchered 
in cold blood by Lord Chfford, in revenge for his father's death at St. 
Alban's. It is said that York was crowned by his enemies, in derision, 
with a wreath of grass. His head was then struck off, and set upon the 
gates of York. (See Shakespere, K. Henry VI. — ^I. II. III. Parts.) 

He left, however, several sons, of whom Edward, the eldest, succeeded 
to his claims. Edward was a prince of great courage and ability, as well 
as personal beauty ; but of a licentious and cruel character. He was able 
to give the queen's forces a total defeat at Mortimer's Cross, near Here- 
ford ; and though Margaret, on the other hand, worsted the Earl of War- 
wick in a second battle at St. Alban's, and recovered possession of her 
husband's person, she was forced to retire, when Edward joined his forces 
to those of Warwick. That prince then marched to London, where he was 
received by the citizens, and proclaimed king, A. D. 1461. Shortly after- 
wards, his brothers George and Richard were created Dukes of Clarence 
and Gloucester. 

[For the authorities of this period of History , see English Review, No 2.] 



Edward IV. 

Born at Rouen, in Normandy. Buried at Windsor. Reigned 22 years. 
From A. D. 1461 to A. D. 1483. 

The triumphs of the House of York appeared to be confirmed by a vic- 
tory gained a few days afterwards at Towton in Yorkshire. Edward had 
ordered that no quarter should be given, and nearly one half of the Lan- 
castriaDs perished. Margaret withdrew to the continent ; but, by the as- 
sistance of Louis XL, was able to land in the north the following winter. 
She was defeated at Hexham ; and in the course of this campaign, was 
once seeking concealment in a forest with her son, when she was met by 

Y 



164 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



a robber. Her courage and presence of mind saved her from this danger. 
Boldly approaching the man, she said, Friend, I commit to thy care the 
son of good king Henry." The outlaw accepted the trust, and conducted 
Margaret and the prince to their friends. She again withdrew from En- 
gland ; while Henry, after being concealed for a year in Lancashire, was 
betrayed and brought to London, where he was treated with great indigni- 
ty, and consigned to the Tower. 

It was not long before Warwick began to be dissatisfied with the prince 
whom he had seated on the throne. He had been sent to France to ne- 
gociate a marriage between Edward and the sister-in-law of Louis. During 
his absence it happened that the king was struck with the beauty of Eliz- 
abeth Woodville, Lady Grey, and at once made her his queen ; regardless 
of the slight which would thus be put upon Warwick. The estrangement 
thus occasioned was increased, when the king heaped titles and offices on 
the relatives of the queen ; and he was himself deeply offended at the 
marriage of the Duke of Clarence with one of the Earl's daughters. After 
a time both Clarence and Warwick were forced to fly the kingdom, and a 
reconciliation took place between them and Margaret, cemented by the 
marriage of prince Edward her son with Warwick's youngest daughter. 
Assisted by king Louis, the Earl on his return to England was joined by 
vast numbers, and took his measures so ably, that Edward in his turn was 
forced to withdraw to Flanders ; while Henry was brought from the Tower, 
and walked in procession with the crown upon his head to St. Paul's. 
From this time Warwick obtained from the people the title of King-maker. 
Nothing could seem more desperate than the prospects of Edward ; but 
one of the remarkable features in those wars is the suddenness with which 
the scene so often changed : and so it was in this instance. Edward landed 
with a few followers at Ravenspur, where Bolinbroke had landed about 
seventy years before ; and, like him, professed that he came only to claim 
his inheritance. York opened its gates to him ; he was joined by Clarence ; 
and having been received in London, he there possessed himself again of 
Henry's person, and resumed the royal title. He then advanced to meet 
Warwick at Barnet, where a battle took place on Easter-Day (1471,) in 
which Warwick fell, and Edward was completely victorious. This was 
soon followed by another with the same result at Tewkesbury against Mar- 
garet, who had received the news of the battle of Barnet on her landing. 
She was taken prisoner, together with her son. The prince, being asked 
by the King what had brought him to England, replied, I came to re- 
cover my father's kingdom." Edward struck him in the face with his gaunt- 
let, and the noble youth was killed by the swords of Clarence and Glouces- 
ter, the Lord Hastings, and others. 

The remainder of Edward's reign was little more than a course of cruelty 
and licentiousness. Margaret was ransomed by the king of France, but 
Henry was put to death in the Tower (as was supposed) by the Duke of 
Gloucester, who succeeded also in awakening suspicions in Edward's mind 
against Clarence, which led to the arrest of that prince. Being condemned 
to death on a charge of treason, he was killed in the Tower, as is com- 
monly said, by being drowned in a butt of malmsey. 



LECTURE XIX. ENGLAND FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 165 



The dissipated habits of Edward were doubtless fatal to his health, and 
he died (1483) in the forty-second year of his age ; leaving two sons, Ed- 
ward, Prince of Wales, and Richard, Duke of York, and five daughters. 



Edward V. 

Born in the Sanctuary at Westminster. Buried {it is believed) in the 
Chapel of the Tower. Reigned from April ^th, A. D. 1483 to 
June 2Qth, in the same year. 

The new king, who was only in his thirteenth year when his father 
died, was at Ludlow, under the care of his uncle Lord Rivers. Being sent 
for to London, he was escorted by that lord ; and on his w^ay was met by 
the Duke of Gloucester. The duke professed much loyalty to his nephew, 
but arrested Rivers, and Lord Grey, a san of Edward's queen by her first 
husband. On hearing of this arrest, the queen took sanctuary at West- 
minster, with the Duke of York and Lord Dorset (her sons) and her five 
daughters. The king was conducted to the Tower, and Gloucester was 
declared protector. 



Richard III. 

Born at Fotheringay. Buried at Leicester. Reigned 2 years. 
From A.D. 1483 to A. D. 1485. 

Richard soon filled up the measure of his guilt by the murder of his 
nephews. They were smothered in their sleep by Sir James Tyrrel and 
two other ruffians. The king had scarcely gained the crown by these 
unequalled crimes, when a plot was formed to deprive him of it, at the 
head of which was the very Duke of Buckingham who had helped him to 
seize it, and who seems to have been dissatisfied with the reward of his 
treason. He was himself a descendant of Edward IIL, and might have 
shown some title to the crown on his own account. The plan, however, 
by which he hoped to avenge himself on Richard was, to unite the houses 
of Lancaster and York by the marriage of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, 
with Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward IV. Henry, who was residing at 
the court of Bretagne, was descended from John of Gaunt, by his mother, 
the Lady Margaret Beaufort, at this time the wife of Lord Stanley, her 
second husband. He was the last surviving prince of the line of Lan- 
caster, and though the title of the Beaufort family was very questionable, 
Henry was looked upon as the representative of the Lancastrian claim. 

The first result of this plot was disastrous. Henry sailed from St. 
Malo, and was driven back by tempests. A great flood in the Severn, 

Y 2 



166 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



which lasted for ten days, dispersed the forces of Buckingham ; and having 
been betrayed by an old servant, with whom he took refuge, he was seized 
and beheaded at Salisbury. 

Richmond, however, succeeded, on his next attempt, in landing at Mil- 
ford Haven, and having marched into the heart of the Kingdom, was met 
by Richard near Bosworth, in Leicestershire, A battle took place, in which 
Lord Stanley went over to his son-in-law, and Richard, seeing that all was 
lost, rushed into the thickest of the fight, and was slain. His crown was 
carried to the Earl of Richmond, who was saluted in the field by the title 
of Henry VIL* 

The royal line of Plantagenet ended with this king. Among the princes 
of this house are some of the ablest, as well as some of the weakest, of the 
English sovereigns. They were mostly engaged in struggles with their 
barons, and wars in France, which were in many respects favourable to the 
liberties of England, from the necessity of appealing to the Commons for 
assistance. The art of printing was introduced into England in the year 
1471 by Caxton, and the dawn of less barbarous times is henceforth dis- 
cernible. The opinions for which Lord Cobham died were maintained in 
the reign of Henry VI. with more judgment and moderation by Bishop 
Pecock ; whose writings were especially directed against the notion that 
the Romish Church is infallible. 



* The body of Richard, having- been stripped, was thrown across a horse, and buried at 
Leicester. 



LECTURE XX. 



HISTORY OF ENGLAND FROM THE 
NORMAN CONQUEST-coNCLUDED. 

Henry VII. 

Born at Pembroke. Buried in Westminster Abbey. Reigned 24 years. 
Frotn A. D. 1485 to A. D. 1509. 

Henry would probably have mot with more opposition, had it not been 
understood that he was to marry Elizabeth of York. He was himself 
unwilling to owe his crown to her title, and the marriage did not take 
place till after his own coronation . 

A youth named Lambert Simnel was taught by a crafty priest to per- 
sonate the Earl of Warwick, who was said to have escaped from the Tower. 
Simnel was taken to Ireland, and his claims were acknowledged by many 
noblemen in that island. The king produced the real Earl, but Simnel' s 
cause was supported by the Earl of Lincoln, the son of another of Ed- 
ward's sisters, who succeeded in raising some troops. A battle took place 
at Stoke, near Newark, in which Lincoln was slain, and Simnel taken 
prisoner. He was made a scullion in the royal kitchen. 

Another imposture of the same kind was contrived a few years after. It 
was given out that Richard Duke of York had escaped from the Tower, 
and a young man, named Perkin Warbeck, was persuaded to assume his 
character. The Duchess of Burgundy saluted the imposter as the White 
Rose of England ;" the King of Scots received him with all honour, and 
gave him the hand of his own relative, the Lady Catherine Gordon. 
Warbeck afterwards landed in Cornwall, but being met by the royal forces, 
he secretly withdrew, and took sanctuary at Beauheu, in Hants. He was 
at length committed to the Tower, where he persuaded the Earl of War- 
wick to join him in attempting an escape. The plot was discovered, and 
Warbeck was hung at Tyburn, and the earl soon afterwards beheaded on 
Tower Hdl. The King also married his eldest daughter (Margaret) to 
James IV., King of Scotland. 

The King died in the year 1506, and was succeeded by Henry, his only 
surviving son. In this reign the New World was discovered by Columbus, 
a native of Genoa, in the service of Ferdinand and Isabella, of Spain, 1492 
A. D. 



168 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



Henry VIII. 

Born at Greenwich. Buried at Windsor^ Reigned 38 years. 
From A. D. 1509 to A. D. 1547. 

The young king was handsome in person, and popular and jovial in his 
manners. He had been carefully educated, and not only excelled in mar- 
tial exercises, but had acquired considerable scholarship, and was well 
read in the writings of the school divines. His marriage with Catherine of 
Arragon, his brother's widow, was celebrated with magnificence ; and his 
passion for pageantry and pleasure contrasted favourably in the opinion 
of his subjects with the avarice of his father, whose agents (Empson and 
Dudley) were now tried and executed. 

In the year 1513, the Earl of Surrey gave the Scots one of the most 
disastrous defeats they ever sustained, in the battle of Flodden Field. 
James IV., who had taken part with Louis against his brother-in-law, was 
slain in this battle, with many of his principal nobles. His son (now 
James V.) was at this time an infant. On the peace which followed, Henry 
gave his sister Mary in marriage to Louis XII., who died three months 
after his nuptials, and was succeeded by Francis I . Mary then married 
the Duke of Suffolk, to whom she had been attached before. 

The King at this time lavished his favour on Thomas Wolsey, the son, 
as was said, of a butcher at Ipswich, who from his talents for business had 
been brought forward in the last reign, and, though in holy orders, was 
no less useful to Henry in affkirs of state, than welcome as the associate 
and minister of his pleasures. He became chancellor of England, as well 
as Archbishop of York, was made a Cardinal by the Pope, and enjoyed an 
enormous revenue, with which he lived in royal state. His good offices 
with the king were sought both by Francis I. and by the Emperor Charles 
v., (who was also King of Spain,) the two most powerful sovereigns in 
Europe. 

Henry had long lived happily with his queen, and they had one surviving 
child, the Princess Mary. He now professed to have scruples of conscience 
as to the lawfulness of his marriage with the widow of his brother ; and it 
must be owned, that the prohibition of such unions, contained in the 
Levitical law, had been adopted into the code of most Christian nations. 
The king's scruples were, doubtless, kept alive by an attachment he had 
formed to Anne Boleyn, a lady of remarkable wit and beauty in Queen 
Catherine's court. He applied to Rome for a divorce, and the pope 
(Clement VII.) had thus to choose between offending the emperor, who 
was Catherine's nephew, and whose power he had particular reason to 
fear, and on the other hand provoking a prince of Henry's violent pas- 
sions to place himself at the head of the "Protestants," the name by which 
the German Reformers were soon afterwards designated, from protesting 
(1529) against a decree of the empire, forbidding innovation in religion. 
Cardinal Campeggio was sent to England for the avowed purpose of for- 
warding the divorce, but with secret instructions to delay it ; and the king 



LECTURE XX. ENGLAND FROM THE NORMAN CONaUEST. 169 



was so little satisfied vnth "Wolsey's conduct in the affair, that he dismissed 
his favourite from court, and seized his palace at York Place, since named 
Whitehall. Wolsey withdrew to his diocese, but was soon arrested on a 
charge of treason, and his deep mortification at his downfall brought on a 
dangerous illness. 

(The Reformation commenced in this reign, on which see next Lecture.) 

It was resolved to suppress the monasteries, and Cromwell, with the 
title of vicar-general, was employed in this work. They were, doubtless, 
the strongholds of Roman error, and many shameful abuses were brought 
to light by the inquiries which took place. Their suppression, however, 
was a great loss to the poor, who had ever found help and comfort from 
the rehgious houses, which in the lawless periods of Enghsh history had 
been a refuge for the weak, and a home for mourners ; and it is deeply 
to be lamented, that the revenues obtained by their suppression were not 
apphed to the promotion of reUgion and learning. Five new bishoprics 
were indeed slenderly provided for, and two colleges were founded ; but the 
greater part of the revenue was bestowed on Henry's rapacious courtiers. 

The King soon became weary of Queen Anne, and his affections fixed 
themselves on Jane Seymour, a lady in her court. The gaiety of Anne's 
manners gave occasion for a charge against her of unfaithfulness to her 
husband, and she was beheaded in the Tower within little more than two 
years after her marriage. On the day after her execution the King mar- 
ried Jane Seymour, who died within a year, after giving birth to a son, 
who was afterwards Edward YI. Anne Boleyn left a daughter, the Prin- 
cess Elizabeth. 

Henry's next wife was the Princess Anne of Cleves. He was so disap- 
pointed with her person, that he could scarcely be persuaded to marry her, 
and soon apphed for a divorce, which was granted by his obsequious 
clergy. Nothing can more show the subserviency of those about him to 
his caprice ; unless it be an act of parliament, which gave to his proclama- 
tions the force of law. The marriage of Anne of Cleves had been advised 
by Cromwell, and led to his disgrace and death. The King wasadvisey 
indignant with Lis minist(;r, and sent him to the Tower, where he was 
beheaded, 1540. 

Henry immediately married the Lady Catherine Howard, who was soon 
discovered to be a woman of abandoned character, and was executed, with 
several persons concerned in her guilt. His last wife was Catherine Parr, 
who was more than once in great danger from her attachment to the re- 
formed rehgion, but by her prudence was enabled to lull the irritation of 
her husband, whom she survived. 



170 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



Edward VI. 

Born at Hampton Court. Buried in Westminster Abbey. Reigned 
6 years. From A. D. 1547 to A. D. 1553. 

Edward was little more than nine years old when he became King. He 
had been trained in the principles of the Reformed Religion, and while his 
intelligence was beyond his years, his early piety was a pattern to all around 
him. When the three swords were (as was usual) carried before him at 
his coronation, he said, There is yet one wanting," and called for a 
Bible ; '* For," said he, " that is the sword of the Spirit, without which 
" we are nothing." His uncle, who became Duke of Somerset, and was 
declared Protector, was a firm friend to the Reformation, which was now 
zealously promoted. 

The Protector's brother had been made high admiral, with the title of 
Lord Seymour. He had also married Queen Catherine Parr, but was 
jealous of Somerset, and tried to undermine his power. When his aim 
became too plain, he was tried and executed by his brother's order, on a 
charge of treason. The influence, however, of the Protector began to de- 
cline. His concessions to the people had displeased the nobles ; and his 
ambition led him to grasp at more power than any subject had enjoyed. 
He had also begun to build the palace in the Strand, which is still called 
Somerset House, by most shameful and sacrilegious appropriations of 
Church Property. His chief enemy was Dudley, who became Duke of 
Northumberland, and by his influence was forced to give up his office, and 
was severely fined. Having afterwards unguardedly used some violent 
words, he was tried for high treason, and beheaded in the Tower, to the 
great grief of the people. 

The health of the young king now rapidly declined, and Northumberland 
induced him to alter the succession to the throne, with a view to the ag- 
grandizement of his own family. The Ladies Mary and Ehzabeth had 
both been named in their father's will to succeed after their brother, but 
had previously been declared illegitimate by act of Parhament : and as 
Mary was firmly attached to the Church of Rome, the young king was 
easily worked upon to take advantage of that act, and appoint a successor 
from the family of his aunt, the Queen of France, by the Duke of Suffolk. 
The person thus appointed was the Lady Jane Grey, whom Northumber- 
land had contrived to marry to his son. Lord Guildford Dudley. The king 
required his councillors to sign the devise in Lady Jane's favour ; and 
Cranmer, among the rest, reluctantly put his hand to it. Edward breathed 
his last, July 6th, 1553. Shortly before his death, he had been so moved 
by a sermon of Bishop Ridley, on the duty of providing for the poor, that 
he sent for him, and with tears desired his advice in the fulfilment of that 
duty. The result of that advice was, the foundation of Christ's Hospital, 
for the education of poor children ; St. Thomas' and Bartholomew's, for 



LECTURE XX. ENGLAND FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 171 



the relief of the sick ; and Bridewell, for the correction of the vicious. 
Almost his closing words were, Lord God, deliver this realm from 
papistry, and maintain the true religion, that I and my people may 
praise Thy name, for Jesus Christ's sake." 



Mary. 

Born at Greenwich. Buried at Westminster. Reigned b years. 
From A.D. 1553 to A. D. 1558. 

The attempt of Northumberland to secure the crown for his daughter- 
in-law was utterly unsuccessful. The Lady Jane was indeed proclaimed, 
and conducted to the Tower (as was usual,) with a view to her coronation. 
The true principle of succession was, however, now too well established in 
public opinion to be thus set aside ; and the right of Mary was so univer- 
sally acknowledged, that she entered London without opposition. Nor- 
thumberland was beheaded, after showing himself as abject in adversity as 
he had been insolent in prosperity. The Lady Jane and her husband (of 
whom neither was more than seventeen) were imprisoned, but their lives" 
were spared for about a year. Upon an insurrection, which was headed 
by Sir Thomas Wyatt, the warrant was issued for their execution. Lord 
Guildford suffered first, and the Lady Jane saw from a window her hus- 
band's headless trunk, as it was carried back in a cart. She died with an 
admirable meekness and piety, and it may be believed that a spirit, of 
which no earthly crown was worthy, was thus summoned to a far more 
glorious inheritance. 

This execution betokened the stern and cruel disposition, which will ever 
be assigned to Mary in English History. She was, indeed, sincerely de- 
vout, and possessed many high and noble qualities ; nor must we forget 
the reason she had to view the Reformation with dishke, from all the 
misery of which it had been made the instrument to her mother Queen 
Catherine and herself. With every allowance, however, her character must 
be viewed as an instance of the dreadful effects of that bigotry and in- 
tolerance, which disgraced the Roman Church even more than our own 
in those days. 

The only other event of much note, besides the persecution of the Pro- 
testants, in this reign was the loss of Calais, in a war in which Mary had 
been induced to engage by her husband. She was deeply afflicted at this 
loss, and declared that at her death the name of Calais would be found 
engraven on her heart. Her health had never been strong, and she was 
constitutionally melancholy. Soon after her accession she had been af- 
flicted with dropsy, and died of that complaint, 1558 ; nor was her death 
much regretted even by the Romanists. 



z 



172 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY, 



Elizabeth. 

Born at Greenwich. Buried at Westminster. Reigned 45 years. 
From A. D. 1558 to A.D. 1603. 

Elizabeth was at Hatfield, in Hertfordshire, at the time of her sister's 
death. 

Her accession was hailed with joy by the whole nation, especially as she 
was known to be attached to the Keformed Religion, which she took mea- 
sures to re-establish. Her chief advisers were the great statesmen Sir 
"William Cecil, whom she afterwards made Lord Burleigh, and Matthew 
Parker, who was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, and was a prelate 
of great piety and judgment. The Liturgy, as contained in the second 
book of King Edward, was adopted ; and the Thirty-nine Articles of Re- 
ligion were agreed upon. 

During the reign of Mary, many of the English Protestants had fled to 
Switzerland and Germany, and there imbibed the views of the foreign Re- 
formers, who, in their zeal against Romanism, objected to many rites and 
usages which the Church of England had retained. On the return of 
these persons to England, they were clamorous for more extensive changes 
than Cranmer and his fellow-sufierers had made ; and it required much 
firmness and judgment on the part of Elizabeth and her advisers to pre- 
serve the mild and moderate character of the English Church. The party 
which held these views began to be called Puritans ; and we well know to 
what evils their narrow and self-sufficient temper led in the following 
reigns. Much of the division in rehgious opinions which still exists in 
England is the fruit of seeds which were sown at this time. 

The Romanists seem generally to have acquiesced in the reforms which 
EHzabeth brought in ; nor did they cease to attend the authorized services 
of the Church till the year 1570, when the Queen was excommunicated by 
the pope. This is a fact, which it is well to bear in mind. 

A tragedy now took place in Scotland, in which Mary's fair fame has 
been implicated, but as it would appear from original letters in the Li- 
brary of St. Petersburgh, unjustly so. [See Prince Labanoff s work on 
this subject. The MS. of Bothwell's will, exculpating Mary, is in the K. 
of Sweden's Library at Drottingholm. The remarkable and exact parallel 
to this tragedy which ocurred in Italy, A. D. 1346, may be found in Proc- 
ter's Italy y Chap IV. part 3.] She had removed her husband, who was 
indisposed, to a lone house, which was blown up a few hours after she 
had herself left it ; and the unfortunate prince was found dead in the 
fields at a little distance. Mary shortly afterwards gave her hand to the 
Lord Bothwell, of whose share in the murder of Darnley there can be no 
doubt, though Mary disbeheved it. The Scottish nobles were roused to 
action by this dreadful event. Bothwell was forced to fly the kingdom, 
and Mary was confined in Loch-Leven castle ; while her son was proclaimed 



LECTURE XX. ENGLAND FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 173 

James VI., under the regency of the Earl of Murray, a natural son of his 
grandfather. The queen escaped from Loch-Leven, but was defeated at 
Langside, and resolved to cross the borders, and place herself in Elizabeth's 
hands. The English council determined that she should be detained, — an 
injustice, which this conduct of Mary, however culpable, could not excuse ; 
and they gained her reluctant consent to an examination into the charges 
against her, which took place at York. 

There can be no doubt that a conspiracy, in which the court of France 
was involved, had been formed by the pope and the king of Spain, for the 
destruction of Elizabeth, the elevation of Mary to the throne, and the 
overthrow of the Protestant religion in England and on the continent. A 
most atrocious massacre of the Protestants took place at Paris on the eve 
of St. Bartholomew, 15/2 ; and the queen having been excommunicated, 
many Romanists believed it would be a meritorious act to murder her. 
[Perhaps one of the most striking scenes in all history is Hume's descrip- 
tion of the first reception of the French Ambassador at the English court 
after this massacre.] Monks of the order of the Jesuits (which was es« 
tablished in this century) arrived in England, and under their influence 
plots were laid against the queen. The most serious of these was headed 
by Antony Babington and six other young men of gentle birth ; of whose 
guilty purpose there can be little doubt that Mary was aware. These con- 
spiracies were detected by the sagacity of Walsingham. It was at length 
determined to put Mary on her trial for encouraging these treasons, and 
the unhappy queen was found guilty by a commission, before which she 
appeared at Fotheringay in Northamptonshire, 1586. In no act of her 
life did Elizabeth show so much hesitation and (it is to be feared) so much 
duplicity as in signing the warrant for Mary's execution. The warrant 
was at length issued, and Mary was beheaded in the hall of Fotheringay 
castle. Her behaviour in these trying scenes was marked not only by 
much dignity and firmness, but also by many indications of sincere piety : 
and though her memory must ever be loaded with much that is doubtful, 
yet the judgment of posterity on the treatment which she met with has 
been most unfavourable to Elizabeth. 

During a great part of this reign a sanguinary struggle against the King 
of Spain had been going on in the Netherlands, which ended in the inde- 
pendence of the Dutch. Elizabeth assisted them with her troops, under 
the Earl of Leicester, who showed very little ability for his office. During 
these wars the young Sir Philip Sydney received his mortal wound. He 
was the flower of the English court, and in mind as well as person seemed 
to realize the idea of chivalrous and unblemished beauty. When carried 
from the field, he asked for water; but seeing a wounded soldier look 
wistfully at it, as he raised it to his lips, he handed it to him, saying, Thy 
necessity is greater than mine." (See the ' Broad Stone of Honour' vol. I.) 

To avenge himself on Elizabeth, for thus aiding his revolted subjects, 
and also for the execution of Mary, the King of Spain prepared a fleet for 
the invasion of England, which he named the Invincible Armada. 

It pleased God to scatter this vain-glorious Armada by a storm, in which 
many ships were lost ; and the rest were chased by the English fleet, even 
to the Northern seas. A small remnant only returned to Spain.- The 

z 2 



174 



ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY. 



queen gave thanks in St. Paul's for the deliverance of her kingdom from 
this danger ; and the English afterwards attacked the Spanish coasts. The 
city of Cadiz was taken and burnt by an armament, in which the Earl of 
Essex and Sir Walter Raleigh bore command. The latter had at one time 
been much noticed by the queen, and led an expedition to South America, 
of which he published a remarkable account. 

The queen died in the 70th year of her age, A. D. 1603, after indicating 
(as was said) that the King of Scots was to be her successor. 

Like all the sovereigns of the Tudor family, she ruled both court and 
kingdom with a sway little less arbitrary than the rule of Eastern despots. 
The power of the nobles had been much broken in the wars of the Roses, 
and the influence of the commons had not yet reached its full growth. Her 
reign is however one of the most glorious periods in English History. 
Commerce and agriculture revived under her wise enactments, and towards 
the close of her reign the law for the maintenance of the poor was passed, 
which ever must be viewed as a great national provision for the destitute 
and afflicted. The literature of England shone forth with unexampled 
brightness. Shakespere, Spenser, Hooker are still the pride of English, 
literature. 

The following passage from Lord Brougham's Character of Robert- 
son" may well conclude this sketch of Queen Elizabeth's Reign. 

There seems considerable reason to lament, that an intimate acquain- 
tance with the great scenes and celebrated characters of History, in all 
ages, should have made the historian too familiar with the crimes perpe- 
trated by persons in exalted stations, so that he suppresses, in recounting 
them, the feelings of severe reprobation, to which a more pure morality, a 
more strict justice would certainly have given vent. Let us by way of ex- 
ample survey the highly-wrought, and indeed admirably composed charac- 
ter of Queen Elizabeth [in Robertson'' s History of Scotland.'] She is de- 
scribed as still adored in England ; and though " her dissimulation with- 
out necessity, and her severity beyond example," are recorded, as making 
her treatment of Mary an exception to the rest of her reign, it is not stated 
that her whole life was one tissue of the same gross falsehood, whenever 
she deemed it for her interest, or felt it suited her caprices, to practice arti- 
fices, as pitiful as they were clumsy. But a graver charge than dissimula- 
tion and severity, as regards her connexion with the history of Mary, is 
entirely suppressed, and yet the foul crime is described in the same work. 
I lis undeniable that Ehzabeth did not cause her to be executed, till she 
had repeatedly endeavoured to make Sir Amyas Paulet and Sir Drue 
Drury, who had the custody of her person, take her ofFby^ assassination. 
When those two gallant cavaliers rejected the infamous proposition with 
scorn, she attacked them as * dainty and precise fellows, men promising 
much and performing nothing :' nay, she was with difficulty dissuaded 
from displacing them, and employing one Wingfield in their stead, *who 
had both courage and inclination to strike the blow.' Then finding she 
could not commit murder, she signed the warrant for Mary's execution ; 
and immediately perpetrated a crime only less foul than murder, treach- 
erously denying her hand-writing, and destroying, by heavy fine and long 
imprisonment, the secretary of state, whom she had herself employed to 
issue the fatal warrant. 



LECTURE XX. ENGLAND FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 175 

** History, fertile in its records of royal crimes, offers to our execration 
few such characters as that of this great, successful, and powerful Princess . 
An assassin in her heart, nay in her councils and orders ; an oppressor, of 
the most unrelenting cruelty, in her whole conduct ; a hypocritical dissem- 
bler, to whom falsehood was habitual, honest frankness strange, — such is 
the light in which she ought to be ever held up, as long as humanity and 
truth shall bear any value in the eyes of men. That she rendered great 
services to her subjects, that she possessed extraordinary firmness of cha- 
racter as a sovereign, with despicable weakness as an individual, is equally 
incontrovertible ; but there is no such thing as right of set-off" in the 
judgment which impartial history has to pronounce — no doctrine of com- 
pensation in the code of pubHc morals : and he who undertakes to record 
the actions of princes, and to paint their characters, is not at liberty to 
cast a veil over undeniable imperfections, or to suffer himself, like the giddy 
vulgar, to be so dazzled by glory, that his eyes are blind to crime." 



CONCLUSION. 



It may be as well to recapitulate the leading principles of the Theory of 
History developed in the preceding Lectures. 

The Theory itself is the Unity of History ; the Church of Christ being 
considered to be the Centre, towards which Ancient History verged, and 
from which Modern History radiates. 

The leading features of this Theory are, — 

First, The Revealed Truth, that the Disunion of Mankind is a consequence 
of Primeval Sin. 

2. That the Four Great Empires of Antiquity were the vain cravings and 
efforts of man for Union ; but were made serviceable preparatives to the 
Fifth Empire. 

3. That the Church of Christ is the revealed and only centre of Unity, 
set up in the world as the instrument for remedying the effects of Sin. 

4. That the Union to be effected by it is a real, Visible, but spiritual 
Union, under an Invisible Head. 

5. That the Evil Spirit endeavours (and but too often succeeds) to im- 
pede this Reunion by setting up either Antichristian, or counterfeit 
Unions. 

6. That the Reunion of Mankind is a gradual work, and that the solu- 
tion to the difficulties and confusions we see around us, (whereas Revela- 
tion speaks of the Unity of the Church as being already complete in 
Christ,) is to be found in the mysterious Principle laid down {Hebrews 
II. 8,) — " He left nothing that is not put under Him. But now we see 
not yet all things put under Him." 

7. That the Real Union effected by Christ's Church (by a strange para- 
dox) at the same time annihilates spiritually all distinctions of race ; so 
that there is neither Greek nor Jew, Barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor 
free and yet does not interfere externally with the different ranks, cus- 



CONCLUSION. 



toms, and secular government of this world, but (as St. Augustin says) 
rather seeks to preserve them. Therefore at one and the same time the 
kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of Christ ; and yet Christ's 
kingdom is not of this world. 

8, That the great social Truth we have to learn and practice with re- 
gard to the government and civilization of nations is, to establish the 
Church of Christ in its fulness among them ; and for their temporal 
government to study the peculiarities of their race^ and customs ; not to 
attempt to force upon all nations and people alike our own peculiar forms 
of civil government, and manners. 

9. That " the power of the earth is in the Hand of the Lorcl, and in 
due time He will set over it One that is profitable." That where " the 
Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty,'* of nations, as well as individuals. 



ETON : 

PRINTED BY E. P, WILLIAMS. 



I 



